That's Just the Way Things Are
by Nic Jean aka Fate
Summary: When one Ronin falls victim to disease, the guys find themselves on a mysterious path through the unknown.
1. Death Dream

Death Dream

(Disclaimer: All new characters in this story are fictitious.Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or characters used by other authors is purely coincidental…unless I say otherwise!The same goes for places, buildings, companies, etc.)

*

He ran and ran but _it _gained on him._It_ just walked but _it_ gained on him anyway.His breath was coming in shallow gasps as he flew down the long corridor.He opened the door at its end only to find another long hall with a door a hundred yards away.How long had he been running?

It seemed like hours that he'd been fleeing _it_ down the dim, dull grey halls, cutting his bare feet on the broken tiles that loosely covered the floor, opening the horrid, heavy, blood red doors just to run some more and never finding escape.He glanced over his shoulder at _it_ and wished he hadn't.

_Its_ face was no more than decaying skin stretched sickeningly over the bones.Cruel, demonic, green eyes met his own and he wrenched his gaze away from them fearfully.

The next door loomed before him and as he reached it a hope he knew to be in vain clutched at his pounding heart that this door might provide liberation from the terror only fifteen yards behind him.He grabbed the rusty doorknob and turned it.

Nothing happened.The door didn't open and the skeletal figure got closer.He jerked the once silver knob viciously in his panic and it came off in his hand.With enough fear for a thousand nightmares in his eyes, he slowly turned to face the cause of this horror and _it_ was far too real.

_Its_ skin was half gone in most places but where it was left it hardly hid the rotting bones._It_ wore dingy, ragged clothes and held a big leather belt with a sharp-edged buckle in one hand and a half-empty beer bottle in the other.The smile on _its_ face reflected everything _it_ was to him.__

_It_ was pain and torture, both mental and physical.__

__And _it_ was Death.

_It_ was his father.

* * * * *

"Sage, how long has Rowen been going like this?" Cye asked, worry obvious and practically contagious in his British voice.

"He was already like this when I woke up.I've tried everything but I can't wake him up," Sage replied, his own voice and expression devoid of any emotion.That was only a mask he put up for everyone else; inside he was screaming with anger, concern, and utter helplessness.Ironic that the one he was concerned for was also the only one who saw through his façade and knew the real person inside.Cruelly ironic.

"It doesn't help that he won't hold still!" Kento growled as he tried to dodge a fist but got hit in the jaw by the sleeper.Kento grabbed the arm and pinned it to the bed.The other fist hit him in the jaw again and he quickly let go of the arm.

"This isn't working.Where's Mia with the damn medicine?!" Ryo asked from where he was holding down Rowen's legs as best he could and feeling as if he'd been kicked hard enough, enough times for all his ribs to break.

"I don't know but she'd better hurry up before Blue-boy kills us all in his sleep," Kento remarked.

Sage grunted in reply as he managed to get a hold on Rowen's thrashing head and he held it down as gently as he could.

"Gotcha!" Kento cried and finally grabbed one of the flailing, pale skinned, wiry arms and sat on it.

"Kento, don't break his arm, you bloody brute!" Cye scolded and Kento relented, getting off Rowen's arm but clinging to it obstinately.Cye was using as much weight as he dared to restrain the other arm and ended up falling to the floor hanging from Rowen's left elbow crook with both hands."Rowen, come on, now.Wake up!"

Sage had slipped onto the bed and was holding Rowen's sweat streaked face in his lap.He looked down at his best friend and noticed how thin Rowen seemed to have gotten in the past few minutes.The blue hair was damp with sweat and Rowen's whole body was shaking and thrashing wildly under the restraint of his friends.His breathing was harsh and ragged and his face was contorted in pain.

When Sage had woken earlier that morning, he'd heard that tormented gasping and found his roommate convulsing of seizure in his sleep.After trying to rouse Rowen for five minutes and failing, seeing that his best friend's condition was only worsening, Sage had run downstairs to retrieve help.

Usually, he was the only person awake at that hour but he'd found Mia in the kitchen and practically dragged her up the stairs without an explanation.Cye had heard them and silently followed them to the bedroom door.Mia had taken one look at Rowen and run to find the medicine they'd all believed he'd never need again.

Sage had recruited Cye to help him try to keep Rowen from hurting himself in his sleep.After a while, Ryo decided to investigate all the commotion and eventually Kento had come, thinking there might be a fight to see, and quickly added his strength to the effort.That had all been nearly twenty minutes ago and Sage feared Mia would never find the medicine in time.

"Hold on, Ro," he whispered as his blue-haired friend went into another seizure-spasm.The seizure was over in less than a minute but Sage noticed Rowen's already weak and troubled breathing was becoming even shallower.

"Dammit!Mia where's that medicine?!" he shouted as loudly as he could.

* * * * *

Downstairs, Mia was rummaging hastily through drawers, cabinets, and anything that might hold the precious medicine she could hear Sage yelling for.Even without the emotion, his words were easily translated: Rowen was getting worse.

_Oh gods, where is it?!It has to be here somewhere, _Mia thought, searching almost hysterically now."Where is that damned bottle?"

The brown glass bottle, the one labeled in bold blue and red so it could be easily recognized, hadn't been needed for more than a year.She didn't know why Rowen was having a relapse now but she did know that unless she found his medicine fast, he would never again feel the wind he loved so much.

She jerked open a drawer in a desk Rowen liked to use.Pulling out his papers, notebooks, textbooks, and finally dumping all five of the desk drawers in desperation on the floor, she dropped to her knees in quest of Rowen's medication.A tense few moments passed before her hand struck a cool, glass surface and she grabbed the bottle.

"I've got it!" she screamed triumphantly as she ran up the stairs and raced along the landing to Sage and Rowen's room.

Three anxious faces glanced at her and returned to concentrating on controlling Rowen._They must have either sensed or heard the trouble and come to help Sage with Rowen while I was downstairs looking for his medicine, _she realized.

If this wasn't such a serious situation she might have laughed at the sight.Ryo was lying on top of Rowen's legs and gripping tightly to them, Cye was sitting on the floor, hanging from Rowen's left elbow with both hands, and looking for all the world like a child clinging to its mother, and Kento was holding Rowen's right arm as if in a headlock and getting pounded in the stomach, all of them still in pajamas.

But Sage didn't look at her, just stared down at Rowen with his usual expression of indifference, until he suddenly raised his face and for a moment she could have sworn she saw a tear in his one visible icy amethyst eye.Mia rushed to the bedside.She carefully filled the hypodermic syringe she'd retrieved from the kitchen with medicine from the bottle to the correct amount.

"Wait.Is it clean?" Sage asked.

"Of course.Now hold him still," she said, slightly annoyed at his question.

"That's easier said than done!" Ryo gasped as Rowen kicked him venomously in the ribs, leaving him breathless.

"Holy shit!" Kento yelled as he was suddenly thrown against Rowen's nightstand.Rowen's left arm had escaped Cye's grasp and Kento now had a bloody nose."Jeez!Rowen's a nuclear version of the Helldevil!And he's _asleep_!" he said as he reclaimed his hold on Rowen's right arm.The Helldevil was a nickname for Kento's mother and a spoon she whacked him and his father with when they tried to steal food from their restaurant kitchen.

"Perhaps you should give him a tranquilizer too, Mia.He was never this bad last year," Cye commented, shooting out a lightning-quick hand to grab Rowen's left wrist before he could hit Kento again.

Rowen twisted and fought their holds on him and Mia realized she'd never be able to administer the injection."I can't do it with him moving so much!"

"Well, what the hell do we do?We can't just let him die," Ryo said, fighting Rowen's brutal kicks.

Sage stared down at Rowen's face in his lap.The pain he saw there was intense, agony obvious in the gasping thin-lipped mouth, tight shut eyes, and pale, deathly white complexion of his friend.Rowen had always been pale-skinned but this was different, almost sickening.Sage felt as if he were looking at a ghost.

Since they'd met Sage and Rowen had felt like brothers, equals.They trusted each other with almost everything.Rowen saw through Sage's cloak of indifference and knew the person inside, knew that Sage did care, and worry, and feel for others.Sage in turn, understood Rowen's craving for learning, his loneliness even when surrounded by friends, even his longing to join the stars in space.

Rowen often talked about the day he'd awoken after being in suspended animation in space, how beautiful the universe looked from up there.Once he'd offered to try to go up there again and take Sage with him.Sage had turned the offer down, of course.He didn't much like the idea of letting Rowen fly him around with only Rowen's dark blue aura to keep them in the air.Rowen had laughed at Sage's fear and made a mock pouting face, teasing his friend.

"Aw, poor Sagey.'Fraid of a little flyin' trip.Too bad.I bet tha girls woulda gotten a kick outta seein' their fav'rite flirt flyin' with tha birds.Come on, Sage.Jist one little flight.What could it hurt?"Rowen's Brooklyn accent made him sound like a mobster.At least that's what Sage told him as a joke.That had only made Rowen laugh more.

In the end, Rowen had just grabbed Sage's hand and next thing Sage knew, he was hovering twenty or so feet off the ground.Good thing Mia's home was so spacious, since they were indoors.Even better thing that they were the only ones home because for the first time in his life, Sage had screamed in absolute terror.Really screamed.This made Rowen laugh even more, to the point he had to land before he lost his concentration and dropped them both.He'd found it so funny, that eventually Sage couldn't help laughing too and both of them lay on the floor in fits of hysterical laughter.That had been one of the happiest days of either of their lives.

When Rowen's condition had been diagnosed early in September two years ago, he had secretly confided in Sage that he wasn't afraid of death but of what would happen when he died.Rowen had said that he often dreamed of a man who was Death itself and would come to take him to hell with an ugly old belt to beat him with and a bottle of beer to drink while he did it.He said the man changed form a lot; sometimes he would be a person Rowen occasionally saw on the street, or a close friend, or even a family member.

Rowen had awoken many times in the dead of night after having that nightmare, scared, unnerved, and sometimes even screaming or crying and Sage would always console him as best he could.Rowen made him promise not to tell anyone about the nightmares.He was proud, almost to a fault, and didn't want the guys to think he was scared of a dream when he'd fought Dynasty, Warlords, Kayura, and even Talpa with such cunning and fearlessness.

Those nightmares were another reason Rowen always slept until around noon.He had a low blood pressure that meant he slept a lot and made it hard for him to wake up and staying up until two in the morning reading didn't help either.Waking him up was a chore everyone took turns doing and no one ever looked forward to doing it.Mondays and Fridays were Sage's, Tuesdays were Ryo's, Wednesdays were Cye's, Thursdays and Sundays were Kento's, and Saturdays were Mia's, though they usually let him sleep in on weekends and during holidays or summer break.

The doctors had said Rowen was cured when the sudden seizures, temporary blindness and deafness, periods of coma, and breathing problems had mysteriously vanished.They had detected no trace of the equally mysterious, strange, rare disease in Rowen's blood or system and everyone soon forgot about the nine months when Rowen had been stuck in the hospital.He said he was happier about people no longer treating him like glass than he was about getting better.And of course, as typical Rowen behavior, he was ecstatic to be returning to school.Mia, however, had insisted on him keeping some of his medicine close by, though he'd just stuck it someplace.

Sage remembered how Rowen had been making plans to go to the Astronomical Museum and Observatory in Tokyo next week and how he'd been trying to convince Sage to go with him.Sage had said no.Just no.He suddenly regretted it.

"I have an idea," he said, just loud enough for the others to hear and surprising himself by saying it."I'm not sure it'll work but I can try."

"Heck, anything's worth a try if it gives him a chance!Go ahead," Ryo consented.

Sage gently slipped out from under Rowen's jerking head, hurriedly grabbed his armor orb off his nightstand and called his green and white subarmor.He heard Cye and Ryo yelp and turned to find Rowen had entered another seizure-spasm.This one was real bad and Ryo and Cye had been thrown off.

Kento clung stubbornly to both of Rowen's slender hands and hissed as angrily as he could, "Don't just stand there.Do whatever freakin' Halo thing you're gonna do before Blue-boy here can rip my head off!"He wouldn't let anyone see that he was fighting back tears.Once again, for all his strength, Kento found he couldn't help someone.The only thought in his head was, _Rowen's gonna die!_And that thought echoed and reiterated itself mercilessly.

Sage managed to regain his former position beneath Rowen's head and gently held it down."The moment he calms, give him the injection.And whatever you do, don't let my hand come off him," he ordered.His left hand was hovering above Rowen's temple.

The others nodded and watched as Sage closed his eyes and went into a trance.Then they fought Rowen's writhing body and began to hold him still as best they could again.Mia looked down at Rowen's tortured face, Sage's left hand gingerly resting on his friend's forehead and his right forcing Rowen's head down into his lap even in his trance.

"Good luck, Sage," she whispered.She thought the same thought that was in everyone's mind.

_Is Rowen going to die?_

* * * * *

Sage frowned.This wasn't what he'd expected—but then he hadn't expected to wake up this morning to find his best friend slowly dying in excruciating pain.He hadn't expected to be doing any astral activity, just to concentrate the Halo power and try to heal Rowen, but here he was in astral form.

He guessed the place he was had to either be an astral plane or Rowen's subconscious.Evil practically seeped from everything in waves and the vibes coming from everything made him feel a little sick.For a moment a bell of recognition rang in the back of his memory but he ignored it and it disappeared.

He found himself walking down a dull grey hall of about a hundred yards length with an immense blood red door at each end.There were shattered tiles spread over the floor and Sage noted that a trail of them had fresh blood on them in the faint shape of footprints.The whole place was dimly lit and smelled of decay and beer.Very unpleasant.

Surrendering to intuition, Sage let his astral form go where it felt and after passing through three halls he heard a sound.It sounded like a whip, snapping and striking something and there was someone laughing.The laugh wasn't pleasant; it was maniacal and cruel.As he walked down the fourth hall, the sounds grew louder and he could not only smell the ever growing stench of decay but the air was tainted with the scent of fresh blood.

He began to jog, sensing Rowen's presence nearby, and finally broke into a flat run.As he neared another door the stench of rotting flesh became almost unbearable but he grabbed hold of the old doorknob and charged through the door.He wasn't prepared for the sight that met his eyes.A corpselike man, drinking beer and laughing as he beat a small form hunched against a wall with an ugly wide leather belt, turned and looked at him without interest then continued to hit the small form.Rowen.Sage lost it.

"Stop it!" he yelled and, before the corpse-man could react, hook kicked him in the jaw.

The corpse-man fell down cursing inventively and swinging both belt and beer bottle at Sage.Sage ignored him and gently lifted Rowen from the broken-tiled floor.Rowen was bruised and bloody and didn't seem to notice he was being carried; he just stared into the air unseeingly.He seemed so light that Sage nearly panicked.

Sage felt hot tears rolling down his face unchecked as he watched Rowen's midnight blue eyes.Those eyes were usually so defiant, intelligent, stubborn, daring, proud, so full of life and fighting spirit; now, they were no more than two, glazed, foggy, vacant orbs set in a pale face that was otherwise so handsomely serious and noble.Those midnight blue eyes and slender face were no longer Rowen's.They were the features of a soul that had been tortured to the point it couldn't see past the pain anymore.

Sage knew what had done this and he knew what he wanted to do to the _thing_ that had killed the spirit of his best friend.

"Rowen, I've got to put you down.Can you hear me?It's me—Sage.Come on, Ro.It's gonna be okay.I promise," Sage vowed as he gently propped Rowen against a wall.

He turned and was about to beat the corpse-man to a pulp when he heard a firm whisper, "No, Sage.He's my fath'ah."

Sage turned at stared at the top of Rowen's unruly blue mane."What?" he asked, incredulous.

He squatted in front of Rowen and held him by the shoulders, staring into his eyes and searching for anything that could be a remnant of the old Rowen.The Rowen Sage had fought alongside with against Talpa and the Dynasty, the one who'd thought the team's way out of more situations than Sage could remember, the one who'd sacrificed his life in a heartbeat countless times for his friends, the one Sage fought with over the shower, the one who had broken every alarm clock that had ever tried to wake him up and nearly Ryo's nose only last Tuesday.The Rowen who was Sage's best friend.

Rowen raised his eyes and Sage glimpsed a flicker of determination and the genius light that Rowen's eyes held when he knew something someone else didn't and betrayed his high IQ.

"He's my fath'ah an' I know 'im.This isn't tha way he is in life.This is some demon an' it ain't normal.My dad's neva' raised a hand ta hit anyone in his life unless it was ta defend himself an' this guy ain't him.My dad's neva' been a drinker eith'ah.This guy's an impost'ah an' way too violent ta be my fath'ah.This guy's as bad as they come.Worse maybe.I've tried fightin' 'im but, on this level, it doesn't do any good.I don' want ya ta fight 'im, Sage.You'll get hurt; I know it.I won't let ya fight 'im.Don' ya dare try to," Rowen said and grabbed Sage's wrist in such a tight vise that Sage knew he wasn't kidding.

"Rowen, you're not serious.This guy was going to kill you and you don't want him hurt?"Sage was trying to understand what Rowen had said._What does he mean 'on this level?'A demon?Okay, so maybe Rowen **is** a genius but I don't get a word he's saying._

"This is a dream, Sage.Rememb'ah?It's a psychological interpretation o' my inner fears an' physical condition.Dreams work weird.If someone were ta break my arm while I was sleepin' an' I was dreamin', that pain would be transformed inta some form o' anguish in my dream.I'm not too sure 'bout this pa'ticul'ah dream but I _do_ know that it wouldn't do any good ta kill a charact'ah in a dream," Rowen said and rolled his eyes at Sage's ignorance.

Sage smiled in relief when he saw Rowen acting more like himself, using logic in even the most painful situation.He _had_ forgotten this was a dream.He glared over his shoulder at Rowen's father.So this was the thing that gave Rowen nightmares, the shape-shifting man from hell.How horrible that it was his father this time.

Sage remembered once after Rowen had almost died of a really bad attack during his stay at the hospital, he'd come to visit him and Rowen had described a dream with his mom as the shape-shifter that he'd had during the attack.Rowen had been upset enough that Sage offered to spend the night in the hospital.

"If this _is_ a dream, I won't get hurt," Sage said.

"In this dream ya will," Rowen sighed and seemed to be about to nod off.

Sage didn't hear him.He was glaring at the corpse-man and resisting the urge to slam his fist down its half-gone throat.He was walking towards them, belt and beer in hand, and, judging by the wolfish grin, was intent on beating Rowen some more.

"Why don't you stop dreaming it?Will it away," Sage suggested.

"I've tried.It would work except this is a death dream; it has a will o' its own.A death dream is a mixture of an astral plane an' a dream created by tha thoughts of a sleeper's mind when it's tryin' ta fight off tha physical pain an' injury o' tha body an' tha mental strain o' death.I think that's how you were able ta come in he'ah, cuz o' the astral activity.I guess since I'm having it, it means I'm dying."Rowen sounded as if he were accepting this fate.Sage couldn't stand any more of seeing him this way.

"To hell with that!You're gonna live, you stupid freak.I made a promise and I'm gonna keep it," Sage yelled and jumped up, lavender-grey eyes filled with angry determination.He felt an odd tugging at the back of his mind and a wild idea struck him.He willed the other Ronins to send their strengths to Rowen.Glancing back over his shoulder at Rowen slumped against the wall, too weak to move or say anything more, Sage hoped for all he could and prayed to every god he could think of at that moment that his idea would work.

It had to.

* * * * *

"Did you guys feel that?" Cye asked, startled.

"Feel what?"Kento continued to fight Rowen's right arm.

"Oh, you must mean that breeze.Rowen left the balcony door open again.Sage says that sometimes Rowen keeps it open a crack cuz he loves to feel the night air," Mia said and walked over to the glass balcony door.She closed it and hurried back to the bedside.

"No, no.It wasn't a breeze.It felt like—" Cye started but Kento interrupted.

"Man, is it just me or am I the only one getting beat up here?" he asked as he received another blow from Rowen.

"Guys, I felt something…I think I felt Sage," Cye said over the noise made by Kento being beaten against Rowen's nightstand.Everyone stared at him.

"Whadda ya me-" Ryo suddenly looked surprised.

"Did you feel him?" Cye asked eagerly.

"Uh…yeah.I think so.I got this funny feeling like I should send my strength to Rowen.Like _we_ should.I don't know why I got that idea," Ryo said between Rowen's kicks.

"How do we do _that_?" Kento asked.

"Use our armor.Mia, can you get our orbs?And hurry!" Cye cried as Rowen's left arm escaped him and got Kento in the gut, again.

Mia ran out of the room and headed for Cye and Kento's bedroom.It was easy to find Cye's orb since he kept his side of the room almost as clean and organized as Sage kept his side of his and Rowen's.It was perched like a pearl in a branch of white coral on his nightstand.But finding Kento's was another story.His side of the room was as bad as Rowen's half of his room, cluttered with clothes on the floor and everything else, junk covering nearly everything, and typical of a teenage boy.She picked up a sneaker, tipped it, and Kento's orb fell into her hand.

Next she ran for Ryo's room only to discover he'd locked his door by accident again._Oh, great!Why does he always have to do this?It's absolutely ridiculous!_Ryo's habitual locking of his door had caused Mia to finally have several spare keys and a skeleton key made for all the rooms in the house because he often did it to other rooms, too.He never meant to; it was just a little habit that he couldn't break. He simply automatically locked doors without realizing it when he closed them.Unfortunately, she was still in only a t-shirt, a pair of sweat pants, and a bathrobe so she didn't have any keys with her.

As she tried to bust down the door, she heard a sound on the other side and, remembering she hadn't seen White Blaze all morning, she realized Ryo must have unintentionally locked his pet tiger in his room.

"Blaze, I have to get in Ryo's room!We need his armor orb.It's okay if you break the door down _this time_ but I need the orb and I need it fast!" she yelled, hoping White Blaze would sense just how urgent the situation was.

He growled in answer and she had less than a second to move before the door broke into splinters and the large white tiger hurtled past her with Ryo's armor orb in his mouth.He headed straight for Sage and Rowen's room and she followed after a glance back at the ruined door.

_Oh, well.I'll just make Ryo pay for this one.At least this time Blaze waited for permission to break it.And at least this time he didn't take half the wall down with it._

"Here, catch!" she cried and tossed Cye and Kento's orbs to them.A few seconds later the light blue, orange, and red pajamas were replaced by Cye, Kento, and Ryo's subarmor respectively.

"Now what?" Kento asked.

Suddenly, their kanjis began to glow and colored light flew off of their armor and into Rowen's kanji, also glowing.Sage's kanji was lit up on his brow too but his light came from his hand and pulsed nonstop into Rowen's temple.

"Oookkaaaay.Um…this may sound like an old question but…now what?" Kento asked again.

"We wait…and hope," Ryo said.

* * * * *

Sage concentrated on sending power to his friend and keeping the corpse-man away from Rowen at the same time, standing between him and the demon.His astral form had donned the full Halo armor and he was slicing away at the corpse-man with his no-datchi.Right away he'd learned just how futile this action was in a dream.Sage's long-sword went right through the demon and never even drew blood.

The way this death dream worked was really getting on Sage's nerves.Some things hurt and some things didn't, some things worked and some things didn't, but he could never tell which one it would be and it always seemed to work in his enemy's favor.

Growing exasperated with the sword of Halo in this situation, Sage quickly sheathed it and went at the demon the old-fashioned way.Pummeling his fists into the corpse-man and kicking him hard in the jaw or gut, Sage found this manner of combat a little more productive.

_I hate to admit but, for once, Kento's right.Fighting does get the adrenaline running.I guess it depends on how you use it, _Sage thought.

The corpse-man backed off for a second or two then charged Sage, belt and bottle swinging.He was mad.In more ways than one.He was angry and then he was just plain crazy.Sage sidestepped him and hook kicked him between the shoulder blades.The demon stumbled and growled but a smile cracked on his rotting face as he saw his chance.

Sage realized his mistake too late and tried to grab the demon but the beer bottle struck him in the face.The death dream favored against him and he actually felt the glass strike him.Even as he fell he could see the corpse-man lunge at Rowen.

_"Nooo!"_ Sage screamed, knowing he'd let the demon get to his best friend.He knew what the demon would do and knew that the death dream would allow it.

He was going to kill Rowen.

* * * * *

Rowen's body was past restraint as he fell into constant seizure but they did their best to keep him still anyway, despite how wildly he was thrashing about.Mia was holding Sage's hand in place on Rowen's temple and they'd had to take all the sheets, blankets, and pillows off Rowen's bed because he got so tangled in them that they nearly strangled him.The kanji of Life was glowing dark blue on Rowen's forehead and Sage's hand was still pulsing the green light of his Wisdom kanji.

"I don't think it's working," Mia whispered.

Abruptly, Rowen's right arm wrenched free of Kento yet again and shot out, grabbing his armor orb off his nightstand.No one had noticed the little crystal ball suddenly appear there.Rowen always kept it hidden somewhere in the chaos of his room and everyone was slightly surprised to see it in his hand.For a moment Rowen's dark blue and white subarmor blinked into existence on him but just as quickly it vanished and Rowen's hand went limp, letting his orb fall with a _clunk_ to the floor.

His back arched painfully, his mouth opened wide and gasped desperately, and then he fell calm.Mia stood in shock for a stunned moment but quickly snapped back to reality and slipped the hypodermic needle into the vein in Rowen's left arm.When she pulled it out again everyone waited.

Rowen remained still and Ryo asked quietly, his voice edged with doubt, "Is it over?Did it work?"

"I think so," Sage said.Surprised, everyone looked up to find his eyes open but he didn't look at them.He kept his gaze on Rowen and his hand kept pulsing light over him.

"What happened?"

"What did you do?"

"Is Rowen okay?"

"How come Cye and Ryo felt you and I didn't?"

The barrage of questions went unanswered, especially the last one.Sage slowly raised his face and used his right hand to attempt to brush the gold blond hair away from his face but it continued to fall in a sweeping curtain, forever blocking that one eye from view.

"Quiet," was all he said.

They shut up.He looked back down at Rowen, grateful beyond words that his friend wasn't thrashing about but sleeping quietly.Thoughts ran at a thousand miles a minute in jumbled disorder._I thought he would die.Thank the gods that crazy idea worked.He looks so peaceful.I think I'd better go to that Astronomical place with him after all…_

After a few minutes the silence had to be broken."Yoo-hoo?Sage?So, what's the deal?" Ryo demanded.

"Rowen's gonna need a lot of rest and healing.Those attacks really wreaked havoc on his system.All that astral activity really wore me out but I've got to keep this going," Sage said, motioning to his glowing hand."So someone needs to make sure my hand doesn't move if I fall asleep.Try to keep quiet cuz even though Rowen sleeps like the dead, anything could cause spiritual disturbance and trauma for him right now."

"Whoa.Back the freak train up a bit here.What does all that spiritual junk have to do with Rowen's disease?" Kento asked.

"All this wasn't caused by Rowen's disease.The last thing Ro told me before the medication kicked in was that he woke up in the middle of the night and saw a husk soldier slipping out the balcony window.He tried to move or shout but he was practically paralyzed.He did manage to find this though, before he blacked out."Sage gently turned Rowen's head to the side.A small purplish blue bump was on his neck, left by a quickly inserted and withdrawn needle.

"A husk soldier did this to Rowen?But why?I thought the Dynasty was being reformed.And why didn't he just kill all of us in our sleep when he had the chance?" Cye asked, clearly puzzled.

"That's a good question.And another thing, why didn't Blaze do something?" Ryo asked.

"Yeah, but more importantly, why did the Dynasty give Rowen a death dream and how?" Sage asked no one in particular.And no one knew the answer.

* * * * *

Everyone took turns keeping watch.There was always someone at the bedside making sure Sage's hand didn't leave Rowen's forehead, for he _was_ tired.Sage fell asleep only ten minutes after he came out of the trance and he slept until around 8:30 that evening.

When they weren't keeping watch everyone tried to keep busy.Mia worked away at her computer, claiming she had to make lesson plans for her classes on Monday.

Cye cooked up a storm, losing himself in recipes and ingredients.Kento stayed in the kitchen, too, and ate everything Cye put before him, for once not noticing how things tasted or even caring if it was edible, just steadily popping things into his mouth without seeing them.

Ryo was outside with White Blaze and Yuli, who had arrived twenty minutes after Rowen finally calmed and had no idea why everyone was acting like a bunch of zombies or why no one would let him go in Sage and Rowen's room to see if they were in there.Everyone told him Sage and Rowen had gone to some party last night and didn't come home till real late so they were exhausted.Yuli knew they were lying but he went along with it anyway.The past two and a half years he'd known Mia and the guys had taught him not to question some things.

Ryo played a sort-of-catch game with him and White Blaze and as usual Yuli and Blaze ganged up on Ryo after only a few minutes.Ryo could throw the old, worn out baseball as far and as hard as he could but Blaze was fast and if Yuli, sitting on Blaze's back, didn't catch the ball the tiger caught it in his mouth.With their combined forces they wore Ryo out until his knees gave out and he fell hard on the ground and laughed.

White Blaze and Yuli came over and sat down beside him, laughing as well, or at least Yuli was laughing and Blaze was doing a cocky dance around Ryo.They sat like that for a while, dirty and weary and laughing, and for a while Ryo forgot about being angry and worried over the earlier events of the day.

"Come on, Yule.Let's go inside and see if there's anything left of the food or if Kento's already eaten it all," Ryo gasped through his laughter and let Yuli climb up on his shoulders.Yuli held onto Ryo's wild black hair and Ryo was yelling the whole time he was carrying him inside to stop pulling his hair out, which encouraged even more laughter from both parties.

In the kitchen they found Cye and Kento quietly cooking and eating, since it was Mia's turn to keep an eye on Sage and Rowen, but the cheerful disposition of Ryo and Yuli quickly turned the solemn atmosphere into one of laughter and happy chaos.Eventually it got down to Kento, Yuli, and Ryo having a contest to see who could eat the most of Cye's famous Quadruple Layered Fudge and Spice cake—nicknamed Cliffs cake by those who were too lazy to say the full name—fastest.

Ryo fell out of the race after his fourth piece and watched the pros at work.Yuli and Kento kept at it until there was just one piece left and Kento suddenly lost his appetite.Ryo and Cye stared after him in shock as he ran for the bathroom.

But Yuli just giggled."Oh well.More for me!" He grabbed the last piece of cake and wolfed it down with fudge all over his face and hands.It reminded Ryo of the innocent eight year old he'd met more than two years ago, before all hell broke loose.

Ryo laughed loudly at Yuli's stickiness and Cye just giggled until a shout came from the bathroom.

"It's not funny!Stop laughing or I'll—_arrrrrrrgh_," Kento groaned.

Cye stared in the direction of the bathroom with a sympathetically guilty expression on his face."Oh dear.I knew it wasn't a good idea to try that new recipe with Kento around," he said softly, then louder, "I _told_ you not to eat that soup but you _had_ to stuff your face, didn't you?Hold on, I'll get some Pepto Bismol or something."And he grabbed a bottle of stomach medicine and ran towards the bathroom.

Ryo watched the British boy with a smirk._Mummy Cye to the rescue._

"I'm coming Kento!I found that medicine."

"Hurry the hell up!This isn't any—," Kento's final statement was cut off by several sick sounds I'm not going to repeat and Cye slamming the bathroom door shut.

Ryo turned to find Yuli being licked to death by White Blaze.The tiger had recently discovered the joys of Cye's cooking, especially the sticky, sweet, brown stuff the humans called chocolate.White Blaze had the laughing boy pinned to the floor and was enthusiastically running his rough cat tongue over Yuli's skin, purring loudly.Ryo, also laughing, found it extremely difficult to pull his pet off Yuli.As he helped Yuli off the floor, the boy gave him a mischievous smile and suddenly wiped fudge all over him.

Ryo looked up and saw White Blaze walking towards him, licking his chops.**"Oh crap!"**

Ryo ran for the stairs, hoping to make it to his room before his chocolate-licking tiger caught up, but he made the mistake of glancing back to see how far behind White Blaze was and tripped over a jacket someone—namely Kento—had left on the floor.Groaning, he pulled himself to his feet and turned just in time to see a large white and black bundle of fur hurtling towards him.

He held out his hands and waved them before his face."No, Blaze!Down boy!Nice tiger!Sit!Stay!Hell, just don't!No, no, no, no, no, _noooo_!_WHITE BLAZE!!!_"

_Thump._

* * * * *

Mia yawned, stretched, and told Sage she was going downstairs to have one of the guys take over watch for her.He'd woken about fifteen minutes ago but there was always a chance he'd fall asleep again.Mia had hardly left the room before Sage heard a soft moan.Startled, he looked down at Rowen and found him to be slowly coming into consciousness.Rowen moaned again and began to gradually open his eyes.Sage waited.

Rowen stared up at him confusedly for a few moments then groaned and half growled, "Why da ya always hafta wake me up?I wanna sleep."And he promptly rolled over, pushing Sage roughly off the bed with one hand and pulling a pillow over his head with the other.

Hearing the thump of Sage landing on the floor, everyone came running upstairs, leaving Yuli to wonder at their strange behavior but White Blaze kept him from following them.When they charged through the door, they halted abruptly.Sage was on the floor laughing almost hysterically—Sage never showed any emotion, let alone laugh like this.Rowen was lying face down on the bed with both hands holding a pillow over his head.

Sage noticed them standing uncertainly and said between laughs, "Rowen woke up and…and the first thing he…he said was: 'why do you always have to wake me up.I wanna sleep!'And…and he…he…he pushed me…off the bed!"

Now everyone was laughing, mostly from the same relief that had spurred Sage into his own abnormal laughter.Ryo and Kento joined Sage on the floor, holding their sides in fits of laughter, and Cye and Mia stood giggling with hands over their mouths.Suddenly a pillow flew and barely missed Cye's head.

"I said lemme sleep!!" Rowen yelled, sitting up in bed.He glared at them all, grabbed the pile of blue blankets, sheets, and pillows from where they'd been dumped earlier on the floor, and was soon buried in the jumble of their warmth, the whole time growling and grumbling about the injustice of it all.

"That's Rowen for you.He'd forget the world for his sleep," Cye commented as they all evacuated the room.Thoughtfully, he added, "Or a book, I suppose."

No one wanted to take the chance that Rowen would throw something else other than a pillow.The pillow had only been a warning and even when he couldn't see his target or his eyes were misty with sleep, his aim was usually true to its mark.

"Yeah and he actually _threw_ Pretty-boy here off the bed," Kento joked, jerking a thumb at Sage.

Due to his immense relief over Rowen's waking, Sage's mask of indifference had fallen and he hadn't felt the need to raise it up again yet.Indignantly, he cried, "He did not throw me off!I just _let_ him _push_ me off."

He scowled and then grinned with the same evil smirk that Rowen wore when planning something devious, mischievous, or playful revenge on one of his friends."Would you like to know what it feels like to get thrown off something, Kento?" he asked and suddenly Kento was tumbling down the stairs and Sage was standing at the top and laughing down at him.

Then Sage was tumbling down and Ryo was the one laughing at the top.And of course, Ryo was soon tumbling down too and Cye giggled down at him.But Cye knew better than to repeat the mistake of his friends; he knew what to expect.

He waited until Mia was right on top of him and ducked.Mia tripped over him and flew down the stairs, landing on the pile of laundry which turned out to be a pile of Kento, Sage, and Ryo.Cye laughed loudly at all of them and they glared up at him.Without warning, however, Cye was suddenly falling himself and they all moved very quickly out of the way but Kento couldn't pick himself up in time and Cye landed on Kento with a thump.

Spitting out Cye's mahogany hair—which had somehow managed to get in his mouth—Kento shoved his best friend off and asked angrily, "What the freakin' heck did ya do that for?"

Then he noticed they were all looking up the stairs.Rowen was standing at the top, blue hair disheveled, pajamas twisted, wrinkled, and a little torn, and midnight blue eyes glaring at them with a look that could shoot more than just daggers,

"I SAID TA LEMME SLEEP!!!But _nooo_.Ya had ta make so much racket I couldn't possibly get a wink in," Rowen said as he slowly, deliberately descended the stairs."An' accordin' ta the fact that the _sun_ isn't even up yet, you guys have eith'ah all lost your minds ta be gettin' up before dawn or you're deliberately tryin' ta provoke me inta snappin' your crazy heads off.Whadda ya think you're doin' at such ungodly hours of the mornin', runnin' around the house like a buncha banshees?

"An' another thing," he almost roared as he turned on Sage."Jist what in tha name o' everything sane in this universe did ya think ya were doin' on my bed?!"He had Sage backed up to a wall and everyone saw for the first time just what Sage went through every Monday morning waking Rowen up—Rowen was especially hard on Mondays because he stretched his bedtime to around 5:00 in the morning on weekends.

Rowen was usually very solemn, serious, and composed but the fury he unleashed on whatever or whoever woke him up was like that of a tornado.There were two ways to give Rowen a reason to hit you so hard you wouldn't know what your name was: 1) tear him away from a book when he's reading it or 2) wake him up.

Sage tried to sidle away but Rowen slammed a fist into the wall in front of his face so Sage began to try to form the words to answer the question.Kento decided to save him.

He tapped Rowen on the shoulder, flinched when the soul-piercing gaze turned on him with vengeance but said anyway, "Uh, two things, Ro.One, what's a banshee and two, it's nighttime, not morning."

Rowen blinked at him."Oh," he said softly.The wrath disappeared and he turned back to Sage, who by now had recomposed himself and raised his mask of uncaring coldness once again."Umm…sorry, Sage.But I _would_ like ta know what ya were doin' on my bed."

Sage was about to explain but Kento tapped Rowen's shoulder again."Hey, you didn't tell me what a banshee is.You called me one so I think I've got a right to know what it is.So what _is_ it?"

And Rowen went into a long, confusing, detailed history of Irish mythology that whizzed through Kento's ears, buzzed in his head, and gave him an awful headache.No doubt could be left now—Rowen was back to his old braniac, unpredictable self.

But what about tomorrow?


	2. Whirlwind

Whirlwind

Everyone waited on the porch for Kento and Rowen.Mia finally went and sat in the jeep and listened to the radio.The guys started tossing Ryo's old baseball back and forth.Mia had decided that Rowen had to go in for a checkup at the hospital and when she'd told him so, Rowen had locked himself in his room and refused to come out.

His stubborn streak was as well known to the household as Ryo's legendary temper.It could be a fine asset in battle.Such as the time he and Ryo had gone into the Dynasty to rescue the other three Ronins and he'd refused to give up on them even when he was so close to death he was hardly alive at all.Cye had once said that if Rowen hadn't been so stubbornly willing to sacrifice his life in a heartbeat so his friends could live none of them would have ever seen the light of day again.But it could also be a pain in the ass.

Like this time.

Sage had tried to convince Rowen through the door that it was for his own good but Rowen had just told him to go away in a not-so-polite way.Mia had found the key to the room but no one wanted to be the one to drag Rowen out.Ryo had gotten a bloody nose trying to wake him up last Tuesday—Rowen had apologized a half million times when he'd realized he'd done it—and Kento still had a black eye and plenty of bruises from the seizure episode the day before.

That was another thing—Rowen didn't remember a thing about the husk soldier or the death dream or any of that and he'd believed them, and only with great reluctance, when they'd said he'd had one of the attacks typical of his disease again.

Earlier that morning it had been Cye's turn to wake Rowen and he had emerged shaken and relieved to escape with his life."I thought he was going to decapitate me!" Cye had cried to the others, who understood all too well.

Kento had mumbled, "At least you only have to do it once a week.Me and Sage have to do it twice a week and it _hurts!_"

"Yeah, I suppose you're right.Oh well, better you than me," Cye had said with a smile.

"Hey!" Kento cried and started chasing Cye, who laughed and easily evaded him, around the house until both were out of breath.

When Mia had found the key to Sage and Rowen's room everyone ended up drawing straws to see who'd be the unlucky one to get Rowen.The horrible lot had fallen to Kento.

"Nu-uh! No way am I goin' into the human cyclone's room.Look what he did to me when he was sleepin'!" Kento pointed to his black eye and said, "He's awake now and you guys know how great his aim is.He'll have me beat to a pulp before I'm within ten feet of him!Those books he throws are three inches thick.I'm not goin' in there!"

Ryo and Sage had pushed him in front of Rowen's door, given him the key, and run downstairs to join Cye and Mia.They'd all heard sounds that were no doubt Rowen and Kento fighting.Mostly it sounded like Kento getting hit by Rowen's projectiles.So they'd been waiting out here for half an hour.

Cye heard a thump coming from the second-story balcony window of the room and winced."Maybe we should've helped him.It sounds like Rowen's giving Kento a hard time."

"You bet he is.Rowen _really_ doesn't want to go back to the hospital.I'm just glad it's not me in there," Ryo said and threw his baseball to Sage.

"Rowen does have a weakness, if Kento can remember.If he threatens one of Rowen's favorite books and keeps a good distance, Rowen might hesitate for a moment and give Kento a chance to get him," Sage said and threw the ball to Cye.

Just then there was a yell of rage and the front door burst open.

"Open the car door!" Kento yelled.He ran out with a kicking, screaming, infuriated Rowen thrown over his shoulder.

"Ya bettah put me down righ' now, Kento, or I'm gonna kill ya!_Le' go!_" Rowen screamed and pounded Kento hard in the small of his back.

Mia opened the back door of the jeep and Kento flung Rowen in.Before Rowen could jump out Ryo commanded his tiger, "White Blaze, don't let Rowen get away.Sit on him if you have to."White Blaze jumped in the jeep and pinned Rowen to the seat by planting his big front paws squarely on the youth's chest.

"Lemme go!Ya stupid tigah!Ryo, tell yer tigah ta get offa me!" Rowen yelled and tried to push White Blaze off.

Ryo just laughed at the look on Rowen's face and climbed in the front passenger seat.The others piled in, too, and as Kento got in Rowen managed to smash his fist into Kento's gut."This is all yer fault!" he growled.

Kento, deciding there was no way he was going to sit by Rowen, grabbed Cye from where he was sitting on the other side of Kento, lifted him up and over his lap, and plopped him down between himself and Rowen.

"Rowen, it's just a checkup.You probably won't have to stay in the hospital again," Mia said as she drove off her property and towards the city.

"Yeah, Ro, it's not the end of the world."Ryo turned around in his seat and grinned at the Warrior of Life who was still trying to shove White Blaze off himself even though he knew it was a futile effort.

Rowen glared at him and spat, "I don' care._You_ weren't tha one who's friends treated ya like ya were gonna break at that slightest touch._You_ weren't tha one who was trapped in one o' those lumpy boards they call beds all day, every day fa nine months.I hated it an' I'm not goin' back!"

"Sorry, Rowen, but it looks like you are.At least you probably won't have to stay there," Cye said gently.

Rowen narrowed his eyes at the auburn-haired boy beside him."Et tu Cye?" he snarled.

Cye, completely familiar with the old Roman phrase, knew Rowen was implying that he was a traitor."Sorry."

"You know, just outta curiosity, did ya meet any cute nurses when you were in the hospital or did Pretty-boy-slash-flirt-king distract them from their patients every time he visited you?"Kento was asking not only to find out what he'd asked but also to make an attempt at cheering the mood.

"Ken-tooo!" everyone groaned simultaneously.

"Just asking," he pouted but was pleased to notice the cloud of anger hanging over Rowen's head had dispelled for the time being.

Rowen snuck a conspiratorial wink at Sage.Kento didn't know how true his comment on Sage had been.Several times during Rowen's stay at the hospital two years ago Sage had done him the immense favor of distracting the hospital personnel long enough for Rowen to get out of bed and do something to stretch his muscles, including an occasional quick hovering a few feet off the ground just for fun, as a variable to the boring hospital routine.Sage winked back, knowing what Rowen was thinking of, but suddenly seemed to recall something Rowen didn't think he'd like too much.

"I think we forgot something.What're we gonna do with White Blaze in Tokyo?Remember how the police reacted that first day?" Sage questioned.

He was referring to the day the first fight against the Dynasty had begun.Ryo and White Blaze had been walking through Toyama and ended up being surrounded by the SWAT team with guns trained on them and having the story on live TV.After all, a large white tiger walking around with a teenage boy through crowds of people tended to cause a little commotion.Okay, so maybe it tended to cause a _lot_ of commotion.

"I guess he'll have to stay in the car.Is that okay, boy?" Ryo asked White Blaze.The tiger sort of shrugged his shoulders in a tiger sort of way and concentrated on holding down Rowen, who'd taken advantage of White Blaze's moment of distraction and wriggled halfway out from under his paws.

Kento was quick to protest."Hey, but then how the hell do we get Blue-boy outta the car and into the hospital?" he asked.

Everyone looked bewildered at this point and Rowen's expression became smug.

"You could carry him again," Cye suggested and then cried out, "Ow!Owww!" as both Rowen and Kento's elbows jabbed him in both sides of his stomach.

"Shuddup," Rowen hissed in his left ear.

"Ya tryin' to put _me_ in the hospital?" Kento asked hostilely.

"Never mind," Cye whimpered and kept his mouth shut the rest of the ride.

"It's gonna be a long twenty minute drive," Sage sighed.

"Very long," Ryo and Mia agreed in unison.

* * * * *

Dr. Danji Kajtim looked at his clipboard.It had been a long day and it wasn't over yet.

"Twenty-seven down, a gazillion to go," he sighed, checking off yet another patient's name."Let's see who's next."

His light green eyes scanned the list and brightened.

"The Hashiba boy.This should be interesting," he thought aloud.

At the mention of the name Hashiba several eyes glanced up from various work but quickly pretended not to have heard.Noticing this, Danji smirked.Last time that boy had been here not a single female nurse had failed to come to work.At least one of young Hashiba's four friends had always managed to visit him every day and the girls working at the hospital had formed sort of fan clubs for the teen they found most attractive.

The black haired boy with the tiger blue eyes, Ryo Sanada, had about 17 fans, the blond with the violet grey eyes, Sage Date, had 23, the ash haired and eyed fellow, Kento Fuan, had 14, the quiet British lad with the sea colored eyes and auburn hair, Cye Mouri, had 21, and even Rowen Hashiba himself had at least 20.

That poor kid had suffered from more than just his strange, rare disease during his stay at the hospital; there had been so many nurses always fussing over him that the boy seemed scared out of his wits at times.A lot of the girls working at Hogo Heart Hospital said his indigo eyes, blue hair eternally falling in his face, and accent made him seem exotic, intriguing, and irresistible.

Danji had learned that the Hashiba boy's accent was from Brooklyn, New York City, that he was ½ American on his mother's side—a journalist, she apparently traveled a lot and had only visited him once for a week, though his father, a scientist of some sort, had showed up at least once every two weeks—from the brown haired, green eyed young woman who'd signed all his hospital forms.Danji had secretly become _her_ fan.Now, there was a girl with guts.Her name was Mia Koji, she was a professor of History/Ancient Mythology at a university, and she let all five of those teenage boys live in her house.

The first time she'd come to visit the Hashiba kid in the hospital her presence had made the girls believe that 'Blue-boy', as the Fuan boy called Hashiba, had a girlfriend.Then she was seen with the other boys and eventually every girl in the hospital thought Koji was after the boy she admired.But the Date fellow was a major flirt and an equally flirtatious nurse had found out from him that Mia Koji was more family than anything else to all five of the boys.

Danji went over to the desk and asked the girl posted there how long Hashiba had been waiting."Almost thirty minutes, sir, and his friends are having a difficult time keeping him from running away," she informed him.

"I bet you've enjoyed every moment they've been here, eh, Tamee?You're one of the Mouri fans, right?" he prodded and gave her a sly wink and headed for the waiting room door, leaving the desk clerk to blush until she was the color of a rose.

There he was.Danji had to stifle a laugh.The Fuan and Sanada boys were holding Hashiba's arms and he was struggling for all he was worth towards the door; he really didn't want to be here.Just then Hashiba freed his right arm from Fuan and clipped Sanada's jaw.

"No!Lemme go!I'm not goin' in the'ah!Ryo, I'm gonna kill ya!Ya traitors!Lemme go!You guys're worse than Kayura an' tha Warlords before they changed!"

At this last comment Sage clapped a hand over Rowen's mouth."You trying to expose us?Quiet, okay?" he whispered.

"Jeez, Rowen, you read too much.That was just a book.Sorry about the commotion, folks," Ryo said loud enough for everyone in the lobby to hear.Sage yanked his hand away from Rowen's mouth with a half-yelp—apparently Rowen wasn't above biting.

"Hello, Mr. Hashiba and company," an amused familiar voice called across the waiting room.

The group looked up to see Rowen's doctor from two years ago standing in the doorway.Dr. Kajtim was 25, had slightly long black hair he kept pulled back with a green rubber band in a tight, very short ponytail that looked like he'd pulled his hair back and then whacked it off as close to the band as possible without touching the band.He had light green eyes, was 6'1" tall, lanky, and the sight of him made Rowen struggle even more against Ryo and Kento.

"Just a sec," Ryo called.

Dr. Kajtim nodded and watched in amusement as the Date and Mouri boys darted forward and caught Hashiba's legs, yanking them out from under him.In this fashion, with Fuan and Sanada holding his arms and Date and Mouri holding his legs, the group made a very noisy procession through the hospital.Danji was surprised at how vicious Hashiba was acting.Last time he'd been so calm, serious, and collective and Danji had been told he had an IQ of 250, giving him the intellectual capacity of a 35 year old, but now he was acting almost crazy.

"Ya bettah lemme go righ' now!Sage, Cye, le' go o' my legs!Whatcha think you're doin'?Kento, this is all yer fault!" Rowen yelled for the hundredth time.

Ryo shook his head and rolled his eyes with an amused smile._This is ridiculous.Wonder how they're gonna manage to keep him from flying out a window once we leave.Well, if anything, this is definitely entertaining._Suddenly a faint breeze brushed against his skin, startling his thoughts._What? But we're indoors**…**_

Cye, Kento, and Sage felt the same thing but Sage was a bit more perceptive than Ryo._Let's see.There's a breeze and we're inside and we've got a very not-in-a-good-mood Rowen whose element is air and stuff**…**_

"Oh shit!" he said.Everyone stared at him.

"Um…Mia, guys, can I talk to you for a minute?" he asked hesitantly, slipping a sideways, suspicious glance at Rowen.The others appeared puzzled but seemed to consent.

"You can use this room.I'll just wait here," Dr. Kajtim volunteered and opened a door to a room.

"Thanks," Mia said and closed the door behind them.

"Absolutely.Anytime," Danji breathed quietly to the closed, unresponding door and went to sit in a chair a little ways down the hall.

"Okay, Sage.What's up?" Ryo asked.

"Did you guys feel that breeze in the hall?"

"Yeah.Probably just the a.c.So what?" Kento grunted, struggling against Rowen.The others had let go of Rowen and Kento was holding him in a tight vise, wrapping his arms around Rowen so he couldn't move his arms.

"No.It was too warm.Guys, I think—" But Sage didn't get a chance to finish.

"I'm warnin' ya.Kento, if you don' le' go o' me righ' now, yer gonna regret it," Rowen said calmly but coldly.He'd stopped struggling and was staring at his feet with his eyes narrowed dangerously.

"Sorry, bud, but you're stayin' right here.I'm not stupid enough to let go of the human cyclone when he's full of hot air," Kento replied.

"Don' say I didn' warn ya," Rowen said and shrugged under Kento's restraint.

Rowen's unruly bangs began to lift off his brow as if a breeze were blowing them upward.He slowly raised his face and Sage somehow sensed that Rowen wasn't really aware of anything, and that he was in a sort of trance.

His indigo midnight blue eyes caught Sage's icy amethyst ones.Sage gasped.There were specks of silver swirling in a hypnotic circle within Rowen's eyes.As Sage watched the silver moved faster and faster until they were dizzying and they seemed to be wisps of wind dancing in Rowen's eyes.

Suddenly Rowen raised a hand and a whirlwind surrounded him and Kento.Kento found himself holding nothing but air and he couldn't see a thing past the walls of wind encircling him.Then Rowen was standing in front of him, his face grim, serious, and serene, yet vacant, as if he was looking past Kento…or through him…and his eyes were weird.

"Hey, Ro, chill dude!I didn't mean it!" Kento yelled over the wind.

_Somehow,_ he figured,_ Rowen's gotta be doing this._He reached out to try and grab Rowen but Rowen raised his hand again and a gust of wind struck Kento full in the chest and threw him out of the whirlwind and against the wall.

"Kento!Where's Rowen?!" Cye shouted in his ear.Kento could hardly hear him.

Kento looked around and saw everyone else pushed up against the walls of the little room yet at the same time the whirlwind was pulling at them, too.Beside him, Cye was having difficulty not being sucked into the vacuum of the whirlwind.Kento grabbed his best friend and held him in one arm so he wouldn't get swept into the miniature tornado.

"He's in there!How's he doing this?!" Kento shouted to Sage, who was on the cabinet lined wall to his left with Ryo and Mia.

"I don't know!Try to get back in there!" Sage shouted back.

" 'Kay!"Kento helped Cye grab onto one of the cabinet doors that were wide open with all their contents smashed on the floor all across the room.Then the Warrior of Strength slowly made his way towards the whirlwind, having to both push and pull himself against the wind to make any progress.He finally reached it and hesitated but tentatively stepped through the violent wall.

Sage watched Kento enter the tornado and concentrated on holding onto the cabinet door he'd reached with one hand and one of Mia's hands with the other.Ryo was doing the same and a glimpse into Ryo's tiger-blue eyes told Sage that the flames of Ryo's temper were beginning to flicker to life within the Ronin of Wildfire yet again.

Sage couldn't believe Rowen was doing this.First, Rowen's death dream and now this._At least I'm not having a boring day,_ he thought dryly.

Suddenly an odd tugging at the back of his mind erupted into voice._Sage, would ya do somethin' already!_

_What!_Sage could have sworn he'd just heard Rowen in his head.

_Ya know, I might be mistaken but I think I just said ta do somethin' already, Sage,_ the voice said, friendly but growing exasperated.

He _was_ hearing Rowen!But his voice was so weak, even if Rowen was trying to conceal it.

_Rowen?But…how?What the hell did you—are you doing?!_

_Oh, I don' know.Hangin' around—literally.Oh yeah!An' I'm trying ta get my so called 'best friend' ta come help me but he's not really much of a help!_ Rowen's mental voice yelled angrily at him, on the verge of panic.

_Calm down!Sorry, but this is weird and I thought I might be going crazy there for a minute.Now, whadda you mean you're 'hanging around, literally'?_ Sage asked.

Rowen sighed mentally and said, _Sorry 'bout tha wind.It just sorta happened.But it hurts, Sage.It feels like tha wind's blowin' through me.Kento was he'ah a second ago but he got blown out agin so he's probably not gonna be able to help me._

I can't seem to stop it eith'ah.It's talkin' ta me an' it's like a part o' me.An' what I meant about hangin' around is that the wind's pickin' me up an' I get tha feelin' I won' like where it's gonna take me.So anyway…YA GONNA HELP ME OR NOT?!Shit!

Sage heard a groan and then silence.Ro?Rowen?Rowen!

Sage opened his eyes and looked over at Ryo."Ryo, I've gotta go help Rowen!Hold onto Mia real tight!I'm gonna let go!" he yelled to him.

"Yeah, sure!No problem!" Ryo shouted back, sarcastically.

Sage let go of Mia's hand and took a deep breath before letting go of the cabinet door.Instantly he was flying straight into the cyclone and deposited on the floor in the center of it.He was able to stand up and found Kento pushing his way inside for the third time.

"Hey, Sage, how'd you get in here?!It was next to impossible for me!" Kento yelled.

"I think it's because Rowen wanted me to come in here!" Sage answered with a shrug.

"Whatever!If you're lookin' for him, Blue-boy's up there!" Kento shouted and pointed upwards.Sage looked up.

"Shit," he cursed under his breath.

Rowen was about 15 feet or so off the ground—which was impossible because the ceiling was supposed to be only 10 feet up—and floating limply in the air, surrounded by his dark blue aura.As the wind howled around them, Sage realized it was getting stronger and that there was no way to get to Rowen.

"Kento, give me a boost!" he ordered.

" 'Kay!Ready?!" Kento asked, cupping his hands for Sage's foot.

"Yeah!Let's go!Hurry!" Sage yelled over the scream of the wind.

With a grunt Kento propelled Sage upward.Sage reached as far as he could and his fingers brushed Rowen's foot.

"Shit, shit, shit!!!" Sage cursed loudly as he landed on the ground again.Rowen was getting higher.

"Let's try, again!This time jump when you throw me!"Sage yelled to Kento.

"No problem!" Kento shouted back and they prepared to repeat the action.

Before Kento pushed him up, Sage closed his eyes and willed Rowen to hear him.Come on, Ro!Listen, you've got to reach down to me.I can't help you if you don't.Do you hear me?

Sage?Well, it's about time!Glad ya decided ta join tha party!Sure, I'll try but I'm not givin' any guarantees, Rowen's mental voice replied.He sounded weaker than before despite his attempt to hide it.

"Okay, Kento!" Sage signaled and he was flying toward Rowen again.

Rowen's pale, skinny arm was stretched downward but his eyes were still closed and his body was still limp.Sage reached until his arm hurt and somehow his hand closed around Rowen's wrist.As he fell back to solid ground, pulling Rowen with him, everything seemed to slow down and the howl and scream of the wind reached a painful crescendo and it seemed as if it was trying to rip Rowen away from him.But when Sage's feet hit the ground, the moment Rowen touched Kento the wind vanished.

Sage looked around.The room was demolished.Cye, Mia, and Ryo were standing by the wall, looking very confused and uncertain, surrounded by smashed and spilled medicine bottles.A painting that had been on the wall was shredded beyond recognition and broken glass was everywhere.

"Sage?Kento?What happened?" Cye asked apprehensively.

Rowen opened eyes and looked up at Kento."I warned ya," he said weakly, a faint, shaky smile on his face.Then he flinched as if in pain.

"Sage?" he gasped.

"I'm right here, Ro.What is it?" Sage moved over to Kento and nodded a silent command.Kento gently deposited Rowen in Sage's arms and Sage once again experienced that near panic when he realized how light Rowen had become again.

Rowen looked up at him through glazing eyes."Thanks fa tha help.Ya definitely took long enough.But it hurts.It hurts like hell.I don' think I cin keep goin' like this.I'm so tired, too.I feel like I could sleep fa a week," he joked.

"Go ahead.Heck, Ro, you can sleep for a month if you want to," Sage laughed.

Rowen smiled and continued, "I'm sorry 'bout tha wind.I didn' mean to.It jist sorta happened.An' I did warn ya."He looked at Kento with an apologetic but teasing smile.

Then a confused look came over his face and he said, "Sage, there's somethin' I can't rememb'ah but somethin' tells me you can. It had somethin' ta do with wind but I can't think what.It's important that ya rememb'ah it an' I don' know why."

Suddenly he tensed, shut his eyes tight, and clenched his jaw.His breath began to become quick, uneven, and shallow until he was gasping desperately.

"Kento, take him now!" Sage ordered and Kento took Rowen from him.

Ryo and Cye were already trying to clear the checkup-table pushed up against the wall of the rubbish the wind had thrown there.Sage helped them and Kento laid Rowen on the table.

"Oh, great!Here we go again!" he said as Rowen's muscles began to twitch.

"I'll get Dr. Kajtim!" Mia said and ran out.

Rowen opened his eyes and looked at Sage fearfully."Sage, it's killin' me!It hurts worse than it's ever hurt before an' I cin tell it's gonna kill me.I don' wanna die," he gasped out, practically whimpering the last sentence.

Sage panicked when he heard Rowen speak in that almost childlike voice."You're not gonna die, Rowen!I promised, remember?"

"No…It hurts!" Rowen practically screamed.He'd never been awake during an attack and even though he'd always still experienced the pain, he now felt as if every molecule of his body were being ripped apart.

Just then Mia returned with Kajtim in tow.Kajtim glanced briefly about the cataclysmic room before rushing to the side of the writhing teenager.

"What happened in here?" he demanded.

"Dammit!" Ryo said, realizing how difficult it was going to be to explain all this.

"Hold him still," Kajtim ordered, only to discover the boys were already doing just that—with apparent experience.He concentrated on his patient."Rowen?Can you still see and hear?"

"Yeah," came the weak reply.

"Good.When either one starts to go, I want you to tell me.Okay?"

" 'Kay."

Danji couldn't help feeling some respect for the kid.It had to be hard to endure the disease threatening his life and the boy acted as mature as possible when it came to that pain.And his friends did the same through all the tension, stress, and anguish of knowing the death of a friend could very well be imminent.Danji could still remember the day he'd met them.

"Ey, Ryo?"

"What, Rowen?"

"Ya got some spa' change?"

"Yeah."

"Well, cin I borrow some?"

"Hmmm.Let me think about it…No."

"Why not?"

"Cuz you'd use it to buy something from that snack machine you've been eyeing for the past ten minutes and Mia said not to let you get hold of any sugar."

"Na, I wouldn'!"

"Would too."

"Would not!"

"Too."

"Not!"

"Too."

"Ne'er mind!Shuddup!"

"…Would too."

Nami watched as the blue-haired teen went at his black-haired friend for the third time that hour.This time was different, though.The blue-haired boy somehow managed to swipe his friend's wallet and, before the other boy could react, was feeding money into the candy dispenser.He was rewarded by a king-sized chocolate candy bar and was ripping off the wrapper eagerly.He was about to take his first bite when two big, burly arms wrapped around him, pinning his arms to his sides.

"Oh, no you don't, Blue-boy," the ash-haired and eyed boy said, eyeing his captive's candy hungrily.

"Thanks, Kento.Mia never would've let me hear the end of it if I let Rowen go on another sugar-rush," the black-haired boy said and sighed in relief.

"No problem, Ryo.I don't really want Rowen bouncin' off the walls again, either," the teen named Kento replied.

"Awww, come on, guys.Jist one little, teensy, weensy bite?Please?" Rowen pleaded, struggling to get his chocolate to his mouth.

"No!" both of his friends snapped.

"Jeez.Fine, if ya wanna do it tha hard way, I cin oblige," Rowen said.

With his empty hand he pinched Kento's thigh hard enough to make the bigger boy squawk and let go of him.Ryo lunged at him but he sidestepped him and Ryo barreled into Kento, both of them falling to the floor.Rowen laughed at them but his eyes widened when both his friends regained their feet, angry and growling, and he took off across the room.

Nami's eyes bulged as she watched the kid called Rowen easily hurdle a couch, a row of chairs, and then even the fish tank, which was mounted on a table so it's top was five feet above the floor.His friends only hurdled the couch and chairs but weren't far behind.When they rounded the fish tank, they found Rowen was already being held to the carpet by a small, gentle looking, mahogany-haired, sea-eyed teen who'd apparently been hiding behind the fish tank.

"Really, can't you two handle him without our help for once?" the boy asked.

"Come on, guys," Rowen pleaded but was ignored.

"Yeah, Cye and I can't trust you three alone for five minutes," jested another blond-haired, pale lavender-grey eyed teen—or at least Nami believed his eyes must be that color, it was difficult to tell when his hair covered one eye—leaning against the fish tank with Rowen's confiscated candy in hand.

"Guys, please," Rowen whined, still being ignored.

"Hey, it's not our fault Rowen practically flies over furniture, Sage," Ryo retorted.

"Guys!"

Nami rolled her eyes and left the desk to confront the five teenagers.Why do things like this always seem to happen on my shift?

"Excuse me, boys.This is a hospital and there are other people around," she said, motioning to the other people waiting in the lobby, most of whom were staring at the group of boys and giggling or whispering comments over the group's behavior.

"So, if you don't mind, could you please refrain from performing your ignominious games in here?It would be greatly appreciated," she finished.

Ryo and Kento looked slightly perplexed.Kento leaned over and looked at Rowen—who was still being held to the floor by Cye—upside down."Umm, Rowen, what's ig…ig…igno…whatever mean?"

Rowen pushed Cye off himself and rolled his eyes at Kento and Ryo's ignorance."Ignominious.Marked by or deservin' shame or disgrace, dishonorable.Deeply humiliatin', embarrassin'," he said.

"Ohhh," both Ryo and Kento said.

"Don't worry, ma'am.We won't do it anymore," Cye promised politely, his British accent adding elegance to his words.

Nami smiled."Thank you," she said sweetly and walked back to her desk.

Sage's eyes—or eye rather—followed her movements with interest and Rowen took advantage of his distraction, grabbing the candy bar and biting off half of it before anyone could stop him.

They managed to seize the rest of it from him but the damage had been done; it wouldn't be long before the sugar had Rowen acting like a hyperactive sparrow hawk.He'd be swooping about, driving people up the wall with sugar-induced antics, and they'd have a hard time keeping him from accidentally activating his flight capabilities in front of everyone.

Ryo mostly dreaded Mia's reaction when she discovered Rowen had gotten hold of candy when she'd trusted them to keep him away from it.Rowen + sugar = trouble, they'd learned and Mia didn't want trouble—not the kind Rowen "Einstein" Hashiba made when on a sugar-rush.With the intelligence of a 35-year-old, Rowen's brain could formulate two hundred devious plans of mischief in only five minutes if given a sugar boost.

Gods, Mia's going to give me hell for this, Ryo thought.

The only reason they were here was because Rowen had been having problems with breathing lately, his migraines had gotten worse to the point he was having them almost every five hours, and then he'd started having these little muscle spasms where a muscle would twitch uncontrollably.

When the muscle spasms started Mia had told him he should go in for a checkup and he'd said he would next time he and the guys went into the city.So when Ryo wanted to get a new soccer ball and the kitchen needed to be restocked—thanks to Kento—and the boys all decided to just have a run around town for the day, Rowen said he'd go in for a checkup.

Mia had called the other four into the kitchen and they'd argued over whose turn it was to go on "sugar-watch".According to Mia's calendar record, Sage had been on duty last time they'd gone to town, Cye before him, and Kento before him, which left the responsibility to Ryo.He'd accepted the fate of following Rowen around for a full day and being dragged through every bookstore and library in Tokyo.But Mia's threat to beat him over the head with a frying pan if Rowen came home with a sugar-rush didn't sound too pleasant right now.

Rowen started to hiccup and everyone groaned.That was the beginning of the sugarized onslaught.Rowen giggled.He never giggled unless under the influence of the result of his sweet tooth.

"Stage Two," Kento groaned and plopped into a chair.

"Okay, Sage, you and me'll get him from behind.Cye, you distract him.Try not to cause too much commotion.Remember last time?"

"Who could forget?" Sage answered Ryo's rhetorical question.

Last time Rowen had gotten so hyper he'd accidentally started to hover off the ground in the middle of a crowd of people.Sage had had to drag him to Kento's van and stuff him in there before someone noticed the flying kid.

Cye got in front of Rowen and started asking him questions like, "Hey, Rowen, what's your favorite constellation?" or "What exactly is a supernova?" stuff only Rowen would know and only Rowen would want to talk about.At any rate, Cye had Rowen's attention and that gave Sage and Ryo a chance to grab him and grab him they did.

"Ey, whatcha doin'?" the surprised New Yorker asked as his captors literally dragged him over to the one of the chairs and pushed him into it.

They didn't answer but Sage pulled a big thick tome out of his backpack and handed it to Rowen, who started eagerly reading it.

Ryo looked at Sage curiously and asked, "Why'd you bring that?I know you don't read that stuff.I mean, The Scientific Theories of Celestial Phenomenon?"He had a little difficulty with the last two words.

Sage smiled."No I don't read that but Rowen does and I've found a couple of tricks for sugar-watch.That should keep him busy for at least fifteen minutes.Once Rowen hangs you upside down from a tree for the first time you learn to be ready for a sugar-rush at all times."

Ryo laughed and settled into a chair between the ones Sage and Cye, who was next to Kento, were sitting in.They began discussing various topics of interest and were soon engrossed in a debate over one of Ryo's soccer games, which he and Kento believed Ryo's team should have won but Sage and Cye believed was won fairly by the opposing team.

"Rowen Hashiba?" a voice called to the people in the lobby.

Cye answered the nurse who was asking for the next patient."Just a moment.He'll be right there."

The nurse nodded curtly, tired and wanting to go home, and started writing something on her clipboard.

"Hey, Rowen, it's time for your checkup.Come on," Ryo said, trying to pull the book out of his friend's hands.

"Uh-huh.Sure.Jist a sec.Lemme finish this chapt'ah," Rowen mumbled and slapped Ryo's hands, flipping another page.

Kento looked over Rowen's shoulder and nearly fell into the book when he saw the page number."He's only had that thing for five minutes and he's already on page thirty-six!" he stuttered.

He was pointing his index finger into the book.Rowen looked at Kento's finger and Sage noted the mischievous glint in his eyes a split second before—

"Aaaahhh!" Kento screamed.

Rowen had slammed the book shut, catching the finger, and getting just the result he wanted. He held the book shut tight with Kento's finger still trapped within and giggled hysterically."All done.Did anyone else he'ah somethin'?"

"You blue-haired freak!Let go of my finger!" Kento screamed and reached out with his free hand, grabbed a handful of Rowen's hair, and instantly felt the jaws of the evil, horrid book release his poor finger, but he didn't let go of the hair.

This sobered Rowen up very quickly.All traces of the sugar-rush vanished and he began to get angry.

"Kento, le' go o' my hair or I'll pulverize ya!" he growled.

Kento ignored him and started to pull him towards the nurse, who was giggling behind her hand.The others followed, laughing at the sight.Ryo commented that it reminded him of a mother pulling her child by the ear and Cye agreed.But Sage was thinking of how many schemes for revenge must be formulating in Rowen's mind.

Poor Kento, he thought.

"Which of you is Mr. Hashiba?" the nurse asked once she composed herself.

"Me!Kento, stop it!" Rowen growled.

Kento finally let go of the blue locks only to have Rowen automatically deliver a punishing blow to his gut.He doubled up and fell to his knees with the impact.

Rowen hissed in his ear, "I'll deal with your insignificant excuse for an ass lat'ah."

Kento just groaned and watched Rowen's feet move after the nurse's, followed by his friends, who snickered at him.Kento shot out a hand and grabbed Cye's ankle, pulling him to the floor.

"You're stayin' with me.I want company if "Einstein" decides to kill me."

Cye rolled his eyes with a smile."Oh, Kento, let go.I'll stay with you but who said you have to wait for Rowen to kill you?We came in two vehicles remember?You and I can leave in your van right now without a hitch.Okay?"

"Umm…all right.Let's go."

And with that the two took off for the exit and Kento's van.

The nurse left the remaining three teens in one of those awful little rooms where you wait for a doctor to show up and it wasn't long before Rowen started fidgeting.Ryo and Sage exchanged glances and said in unison, "Here we go again."

With the hair-grabbing-Kento problem taken care of for the moment, Rowen's sugar-rush started to reinstate itself.He sat on the edge of a counter and played with the lone lock hanging in his eyes for a moment, blowing his breath upwards to make it float in the air for a split second repeatedly, jumped up and paced around the room, then leapt up onto the countertop and executed a back flip off again only to flip right back up.

This continued for nearly seven minutes before he got bored and decided to try something different.He crouched on the checkup table and sprang at Sage and Ryo, pinning Ryo to the floor.

He asked, panting, "Ey, Ryo?Ya rememb'ah when you an' I were attacked by Kayura fa tha first time an' ya used jist me an' tha staff ta create tha Inferno an' blast that Dynasty gate?Well, that was so cool, man!"

And he jumped off Ryo without waiting for an answer and turned to Sage."Ey, Sage?Ya rememb'ah tha oth'ah night when I refused ta turn off my lamp cuz I wanted ta finish that book an' ya were real patient?Thanks!"

"Alright.Umm…Rowen, did you have any other candy today?" Sage asked.He didn't think that half a chocolate bar could get Rowen this hyper.

"Yup!I found these in a little bag in Kento's van.Guess I'm lucky, huh?They're my favorite!" Rowen said and pulled a bunch of little plastic colored tubes bundled together with a rubber band out of his back pocket.

Ryo stared at them, groaned, and slapped himself on the forehead."Great.Pixie Stix," he moaned."Call the morgue.I'm officially dead.Mia's gonna kill me!"

"Who's killing who?" an amused voice asked from the doorway.A tall, black haired man in typical doctor uniform entered the room and viewed the three boys through friendly, bright green eyes."Which of you is Hashiba?Oh yeah, and no killing's allowed in this hospital."

"That's okay.No one's going to kill anyone but Ryo here's gonna be in a lot of trouble.That's Rowen, he's your patient," Sage said and leaned against the wall.

"Well, Rowen, I'm Dr. Danji Kajtim.Now, why are you here today?"

Rowen blinked."Uh…Jist a sec.I forgot," he said and downed another tube of powdered sugar.

Ryo grabbed the Pixie Stix from Rowen's hand and turned to Kajtim.

"Sorry.Usually he's a regular genius.He's got an IQ of 250 or something like that but I think he's had way too many of these," he said, holding the Pixie Stix away from Rowen with one hand and holding Rowen back with the other."They kinda mess up the way he thinks for a few hours.Say, you wouldn't happen to have something that'd calm him down, would ya?"

"Sure, but according to the forms, he's been having extreme migraines, breathing problems, and muscle spasms.There's no mention of simply being hyper," Kajtim said sarcastically and smiled.

Ryo tossed the Pixie Stix to Sage and Rowen followed them."Yeah, but you see, you're not gonna get a word of sense out of him while he's like this," Ryo pointed out.

"Sage!Please lemme have 'em.Come on, Sage.Pleeeease," Rowen pleaded.

"A little help here," Sage called, struggling to keep the Pixie Stix out of his best friend's reach.

"I see your point," Kajtim sighed."Here, toss those to me," he called to the blond.

"Thanks!" the teen said gratefully and threw the candy bundle to Kajtim.

Rowen followed them again but Danji pocketed the Pixie Stix, earning a scowl from the blue-haired boy.Danji couldn't help wondering if that was the kid's natural hair color.On anyone else it would have made them look like a crazy punk but it actually looked good on this kid.

He asked, "Mr. Hashiba, would you mind sitting on that table please?"

Rowen eyed him suspiciously but obeyed.Danji went to the cabinet and found a little white bottle.Taking two red tablets from the bottle, he handed them to Rowen.

"Chew these," he commanded firmly.

Again, Rowen eyed him suspiciously but again, he obeyed.

"How long will it take?" Ryo asked.

"About five minutes.They're very effective," Danji informed him.

While Rowen sat fidgeting on the table and humming the Star Wars theme songs, Danji, Sage, and Ryo struck up a conversation, introducing themselves and talking about nothing in particular.Sure enough, Rowen started to calm down.After around five minutes, he blinked, yawned, and looked at Sage curiously.

"Ey, Sage, what time is it?"

"Umm…7:13 p.m."

"Jeez, Mia's not gonna be too happy.She said she wants us home by 8:30," Rowen said with a frown."Ryo, if we get back late, and she's mad, I promise to tell her it's my fault.Sorry if she beats ya ta death."

Danji cut in."Okay, Rowen, let's get down to business.Describe your symptoms to me please," he ordered.Turning to Sage and Ryo he said, "Mr. Sanada, Mr. Date, you can wait in the library for your friend."

Ryo and Sage left the room and Rowen got started."Let's see.About two weeks ago I got a really bad migraine an' had some difficulty with my respiratory functions…"

…About half an hour later, Rowen sauntered into the lobby with a grim, pensive expression on his face.He saw some blond and black hair peeking over and between a couple of chairs across the hospital waiting room and walked over to find Sage and Ryo asleep in the hard lobby chairs.Ryo was sprawled over three chairs and leaning against Sage, who was sleeping sitting up with his chin resting in his hand, elbow propped up on a chair arm.

Rowen watched them sleeping for a few moments before sitting down across from them.He watched the last patient leave and there weren't any hospital personnel around, so he pulled his legs up to his chest and, wrapping his arms around his shins, dropped his head on his knees and sat like that, unmoving for what seemed to him an eternity in the darkened hospital lobby.

Sage felt the presence of someone even through the sweet calm and stillness of sleep and opened his eyes.Rowen was curled up in a chair across from him, looking very miserable and desolate.

Worried, Sage stood up, letting Ryo's head fall and hit the arm of his chair, which of course woke him up very quickly.Cursing, Ryo fell off the chairs and cursed even louder when he landed on the floor.Rowen looked up, startled, and quickly jumped to his feet.

Sage put a hand on his shoulder."Rowen, is something wrong?"

"Na, everything's fine.Let's jist get home, okay?" Rowen said.

Sage could tell he was lying; there was definitely something wrong, but he didn't say anything.They stepped over Ryo and Sage followed Rowen out to Mia's jeep.They could easily pass for someone of the legal age to drive and Mia had no problem with it as long as they didn't get caught.

Rowen was the smoothest driver, though, he did sometimes get lost if he wasn't extremely familiar with the area or someone gave him directions.His father never noticed much of anything he did so that wasn't something he worried about and his mother was hardly ever in Japan, anyway.Sage's parents permitted him to drive so he could travel and help out with the dojo.Cye could drive far more often than the rest of them because, due to his mother's heart condition, he'd gotten a hardship license so he could better take care of the family business and his mother.Kento also had a hardship license because of his large family and their restaurant's frequent need for a delivery boy.Ryo usually stayed with either Mia or his grandmother and both allowed him to drive whenever he wanted.

The biggest contradiction when more than one Ronin was in a vehicle involved the fact that unless someone beat him to it, Ryo always got in the front passenger seat.Rowen got behind the wheel and Sage took the passenger seat, thinking, Well, at least I don't have to let Ryo sit up here this time.

Ryo ran out of the hospital door, scowled at Sage when he saw where he was sitting, piled in the back, and Rowen hit the accelerator.Hard.

Ryo flew forward and hit the back of Sage's seat."Whoa!Hey, Rowen, mind layin' off the speed a bit?!" he exclaimed.

Sage held onto the armrest and the dashboard so tight his knuckles turned white but he just stared at Rowen.Rowen's jaw was clenched, face set, and his eyes, trained on the road, lit up like stars, filled with rage.

"No, I won't!Now, sit back, get yer damn seatbelt on, an' shut tha hell up!" he yelled.

Ryo stared in surprise but did just that.No way am I gonna make him any madder than he is now.He might really hit the pedal then, he thought.

"Rowen?" Sage began gently.

"What?" Rowen spat.

"What's wrong?" Sage asked even more gently, a note of persuasion echoing in his voice.

Rowen glanced at him for less than a second but Sage managed to catch his eyes in that second and when Rowen returned his angry gaze back to the road, it softened a little and he seemed to relent, easing up on the gas pedal just the slightest bit.He sighed, his shoulders sagged beneath the weight of some invisible burden, and he let the car slow to a more reasonable speed.

"I've got somethin'," he said quietly.

"Whadda ya mean?" Ryo asked, gently, for even he sensed the sensitivity of the subject.

"That Doc, what's his name?Kajtim?He took a blood test an' the'ah were some foreign cells in my blood.Tha guys in tha lab said it was a disease.So Kajtim told me ta come back ta tha hospital this Saturday an' check in," Rowen began.

"Apparently, tha disease is somethin' of an enigma but they do know it's lethal an' those little muscle spasms are gonna grow inta full scale seizures.I'll experience temporary blindness an' deafness lastin' up ta two days an' eventually I'll die," he said matter-of-factly."There's no cure but tha doc wants me ta stay in tha hospital."

He suddenly became angry again."I've fought tha Dynasty, Kayura, even Talpa, an' survived but then a damn force o' nature that doesn't even have a name's gonna kill me an' the'ah's nothin' I cin do about it!" Rowen yelled and slammed his fist on the wheel.

"Here, Ro.Pull over and I'll drive," Sage suggested gently.

Rowen sighed again and pulled the car to the shoulder of the road.He and Sage traded places and Sage pulled back onto the road.Rowen curled up and fell asleep almost instantly.

Sage looked at his best friend and felt like he could up in the same way and just cry.He could feel the miserableness coming from Rowen and there was something else.A faint golden warm glow in Rowen's aura that seemed familiar and yet unfamiliar at the same time seemed to be woven into the spiritual fabric of the aura but Sage could feel no wrongness about it.

Rowen had pulled himself into such a small bundle he fit into the hollow of his seat, hugging his knees under his chin.Sage couldn't remember ever seeing Rowen so miserable or looking so much like a little child.

"What do we do?" Ryo asked.

"I don't know.I really just don't know," Sage said and silence engulfed them for the remainder of the drive.

When they pulled up to Mia's house, Sage shook Rowen's shoulder and said, "We're home.Get up and go inside."

After a few more shakes and one rough shove Rowen mumbled, "Mmm…sure.Whatever."He seemed to have momentarily forgotten about his diagnosis as he stumbled off into the house with his backpack.

Sage and Ryo weren't far behind but they each carried two bags of groceries.They walked to the kitchen and deposited the bags on the counter and were about to follow Rowen's example of heading straight to bed but Mia intervened.

"Ryo, is it true?" she asked angrily from her study door.

"Is what true, Mia?" Ryo asked tiredly.

"Cye and Kento said Rowen got hold of some chocolate on your sugar-watch.Ryo Sanada, if that's true, you'd better have a decent excuse," she said and poked him in the chest.

He grabbed her wrist and started angrily, "Mia, don't start with me!I had to spend and entire day with Rowen and he stole my wallet to buy that chocolate and made me and Kento look like buffoons in front of a lobby full of people.

"Then, to top it off, Rowen came out of that hospital driving like a maniac with a death wish cuz he's got a disease and just found out he's probably gonna die.Oh, and guess what?Rowen isn't on a sugar-rush cuz the doctor gave him a couple pills that calmed him down; so you can just keep your comments to yourself!Okay?!"

Mia let the words sink in and stared in shock.She asked quietly, "Rowen has a disease?He's gonna die?"

Ryo started to apologize for snapping at her.Seeing her like that made him regret telling her about Rowen the way he had and he didn't like to see the tears starting to brim in her eyes.

"Listen, you two, it's been a long day," Sage broke in."I think we should wait and discuss this in the morning.That way we won't have to repeat it for Cye and Kento.And I'm sure I'm not the only one who'd like to get some sleep."

Ryo and Mia nodded in agreement and soon the house was silent as all the residents drifted into slumber…

…That Friday they'd all gone out for the day to have some fun before Rowen had to go to the hospital on Saturday.When they finally got home and everyone else was asleep, Sage was about to slip into bed himself when Rowen had unexpectedly hugged him for less than a millisecond.

"You're more than my best friend, Seiji," he said.

Sage, surprised, just stood there.He could tell Rowen was very serious when he used his Japanese name.

"You're like the brother I never had.Thanks," Rowen said and turned to his own bed.

"Yeah, we're brothers, Touma.And I promise I'll always be there for you," Sage said and in the darkness he heard Rowen sigh as if in extreme relief and could almost feel him smile.

"Night, Sage," Rowen mumbled from his bed.

"Night, Touma-chan," Sage returned, knowing full well the reaction he'd get.

"Don't you chan me!" Rowen shouted and a pillow hit Sage in the head.

Soon both were engaged in a full-scale pillow fight, laughing till their sides hurt and finally collapsing in a tired heap on the floor.Leaning against one another, they fell asleep back-to-back and spent the last night they'd spend in their room together for nine months like that on the floor.

Kajtim ran to the door and called into the hall, "We have an emergency in here.Get a room ready and I need some assistance now!"

He grabbed the arm of a passing nurse and told her the name of Rowen's medication, ordering her to find it immediately, and she bustled off in a hurry as two other doctors and a nurse entered.A few seconds later, the others found themselves standing on the sidelines, except for Sage.He refused to leave Rowen's side and actually pushed one of the doctors when she tried to gently move him aside.

"Doc, I can't see anymore," Rowen said through clenched teeth.

"Okay.Hold on, Rowen.We'll have your medicine in a moment," Kajtim said but Sage saw the look he exchanged with the lady doctor.

"You don't have any of his medicine, do you?" he demanded angrily.

"No.The disease is so rare and he's the only patient we've ever had with his condition.No one expected to need that medicine again and no one knows where to look for it.Hopefully, we'll find it in time," the third doctor said grimly.

Sage wanted to strangle them all to death.

"I've got some.I brought it cuz I figured you wouldn't have any if I needed it.It's—" Rowen was broken off when he had to gasp and struggle for breath again.

When he didn't continue, Kajtim asked impatiently, "Where is it, Rowen?Rowen, where is it?"

Sage, realizing what must have happened, said, "I don't think he can hear you anymore."

"Shit!"Kajtim ran to the door again."Suki, where's that medicine?!"

"I'm looking, sir!"

"Well, look faster!"

Sage could feel another one of those odd tuggings at the back of his mind he seemed to be having so much lately and another of those crazy ideas started forming as he looked into Rowen's blind eyes and he could have sworn it was coming from Rowen himself.Now that he thought of it, all those odd tuggings he'd been having had felt like Rowen.Rowen wanted me to remember something.What could it be?

Slowly, he took Rowen's hand in his own, drew in a lungful of breath, and closed his eyes.

The harried voices of the three doctors, nurse, and his friends, the bustle of fast movement, the hum of hospital machines, all floated away and grew distant.A soft breeze whispered through the darkness and through his mind's eye he found himself witnessing a vision of the night three months ago when Sage had woken to find Rowen standing on the balcony railing, arms outstretched, face lifted to the starry night sky.

Thinking perhaps Rowen was sleepwalking, the vision-Sage went out and tried to pull Rowen off the railing.Rowen resisted, yanking his arm away from Sage and, remarkably, keeping his balance.

"Look at tha sky, Sage.Isn' it beautiful?An' I cin touch tha air, he'ah tha stars, see tha wind.We're all in sync with one anothah.Funny, that sounds like that spiritual stuff yer always tryin' ta teach me.Come on, Sage.Gimme yer hand.I wanna show ya somethin', Rowen said persuasively.

Curious, Sage let Rowen take his hand and pull him up on the railing.

"Now, raise yer arms, lift yer face, an' breathe real deep," Rowen instructed.

Sage did so, wondering the whole time what Rowen was doing, and listened to his instructions.

"Close yer eyes an' empty yer mind an' relax."

That was something Sage was an expert with but Rowen had never held an interest in meditation or any of that kind of thing, which Sage had attempted to teach him several times.Still, he put these thoughts aside and followed Rowen's directions.

As the vision-Sage relaxed, he felt the night air stir with breeze which grew warm and it felt as if it were winding itself around his body.It crawled up his neck and made a very human noise in his ear.Suddenly it seemed to whisper in a musical voice words of wisdom even Sage, the Warrior of Wisdom, couldn't understand.

Startled, the vision-Sage's eyes shot open and he stared at Rowen, who had a knowing, pleased grin on his face.Rowen's voice took on an enchanting quality as he spoke.

"Ya heard her didn' ya?She's amazing isn' she?Tha wind, I mean.I knew she'd talk ta ya."

Sage nodded, swallowed and asked, "How'd you do that?Don't tell me you didn't, I know that look on your face way too well."He shook his finger at Rowen to emphasize his words.

Rowen just grinned even wider, stepped off the rail, and stretched out in the hammock he kept on the balcony.

"I was thinkin' 'bout how we're connected ta our elements an' got ta wonderin' if we could do somethin' with 'em.An' I rememb'ahd that stuff you'd told me about emptyin' yer mind—yes, I was listenin', I jist didn' care ta try it out till now—so anyway, I came out he'ah an' next thing I knew she was talkin' ta me.

"I'll tell tha oth'ahs someday but, fa now, I wanted jist you ta know an' she said she'd try ta talk ta ya.But she had ta do somethin' ta you an' me before she could—don't worry, it's nothin' bad.She jist established a link between us," he informed Sage, who was becoming more than a little surprised.

"What kind of link?"

"One involvin' our arm'as.She said we sorta already had one an' we have it with tha oth'ahs, too; she jist sped up tha strengthenin' process with yers an' mine.Y'know what?She promised that if we ev'ah need help she'll do anythin' she can an' all we have ta do is call her.She says her name's Zephyr.Pretty cool, huh?"Rowen sounded very pleased and content and Sage could tell his friend was already falling asleep.

"Yeah, I guess," he replied and was answered by the deepened breathing of Rowen's sleep.He went to bed and in the morning, when Rowen didn't say anything about it, Sage recalled that he'd decided the night's events must have been a dream.

With that, the vision ended and Sage knew exactly what he needed to do.

"Zephyr, I need—Rowen needs—your help.Zephyr, are you here?" he called into the darkness.

"I am here.What is it that troubles you, Lord Korin?" came that same melodic voice from three months ago.

Sage turned to find a slim young woman of around sixteen years age standing, or floating, or whatever it was you did in this darkness, before him.He estimated her to be about five foot, five inches tall.She was dressed in a blue and white toga of the ancient Greek era and had a silver headband with tiny silver bells hanging from it every half inch that tinkled musically with her every movement.Her hair was a gentle silver color and it would have been down to her waist if it weren't constantly dancing about her for no apparent reason.

Her eyes were what caught and held his attention.They were unlike any eyes he'd ever seen or heard of in his life and they entranced him.They were the same gentle silver of her hair with little specks of gold in the top left corners of the irises that reminded him of stars.

Stunned, he thought, Gods, she's beautiful.But she's wind, how can she be human?

"How—" he started but she interrupted.

"Lord Korin, you called me to the aid of Lord Tenku.What is it that he needs of me?"She spoke precisely, never shortening words or using conjunctions.That, plus the way she used the Japanese names of their armors and called them lords, made her seem ancient beyond her physical years.

Sage had to force himself not to meet her eyes; otherwise he'd just lose himself in them again."Lord Tenku—Rowen—is dying of a disease and we need to know where his medicine is in order to save him.Is it possible you could find it?"

Zephyr thought a moment and answered, "I believe it may be possible.I will need to know what the object I am searching for looks like.Can you produce an image of it for me?All you must do is think of it and it should appear."

Sage didn't argue and thought of the medicine bottle.Suddenly a half transparent image of it appeared floating in the space between them.Zephyr smiled approvingly and took the image into her pale, slender hands.

"Very good, Lord Korin.You are as wise as Lord Tenku informed me.He said your soul is Wisdom.I see why.Now, it is important that you speak to Lord Tenku and help him to calm his body.I promise to do my best in finding the medicine."

Her hair began to sweep about her body, surrounding her and rippling so fast Sage's eyes only saw a blur of silver, and suddenly she was gone and a warm, gentle breeze brushed against him.

He heard Zephyr's melodic voice whisper in his ear, "Remember, I can come if you or Lord Tenku call me, I promise.Sweet winds to you, Lord Seiji of Korin."

And the wind vanished without a murmur.

"Bye," Sage muttered as the darkness began to recede.

When he'd met Mia he'd still been having difficulty talking to girls—thanks to his sister Yayoi's endless teasing—but she'd helped him to overcome that problem and he'd actually become the most experienced dater and the biggest flirt among his friends.But when he'd seen Zephyr, he'd found himself unable to say anything beyond the absolutely necessary.

Man, if the guys found out about this, I'd never live it down.

Sage opened his eyes to find himself lying on the floor, his hand still clutching tightly to Rowen's, and the face of the nurse hovering anxiously about him.He was surprised to feel himself shivering, very weak, and he was still holding his breath.

He breathed deeply and felt gentle, yet strong, small hands supporting his back and helping him to sit up.Sage turned and found it was Cye, who looked very worried.

"What happened?" Sage asked, slightly confused.

"You closed your eyes and dropped.We couldn't pry your hand off Rowen's and we couldn't get you to breathe so we've been trying to wake you up," Cye said and glanced at his watch.He seemed surprised."You've been out for two minutes without breath!I didn't know you could hold your breath for that long."

Sage ignored the comment."Did they find Rowen's medicine?"

"Not yet."

Sage slowly stood up, pushing aside the weakness he'd felt so no one else would notice, and, still holding Rowen's hand, willed Rowen to hear him mentally.Hey, Ro, you remember that night three months ago when you introduced me to Zephyr?I just spoke to her again and she's gonna help us find your medicine.You need to try to relax and calm your body so the disease can't win as much.Do you think you can tell me where your medicine is?

Yeah, I think so.Gods, Sage, I can't take much more o' this.An' I'm havin' difficulty rememberin' things, now.I've got tha oddest feelin' someone's takin' my memories.Pretty wack, huh?Whoever or whatever is doin' this is tryin' ta keep me from talkin' ta ya, too.I— Rowen groaned mentally and gasped out, Dammit, Sage, I can't fight 'em anymore.I don't rememb'ah where I left my medicine an' they're gonna do somethin'— Rowen groaned again.

Hold on, Ro.I've got an idea.Then Sage called out loud, not caring if everyone thought he'd lost his mind, "Zephyr, try to speak to Rowen and find out where the medicine is!"

Sure enough, everyone stared at him and Ryo met his eyes, from across the checkup table and Rowen's writhing form.Ryo searched for some sort of an answer in the eyes of the Ronin of Light.Sage returned his fiery, tiger-blue stare with his own usual icy, apathetic, amethyst gaze and decided to try something.

Ryo, listen.You have to trust me.

Ryo's eyes widened and he stared at Sage.

Yeah, I know it's weird.I'll explain later, okay? Sage thought to the incredulous faced leader of the Ronins.

Ryo just nodded in reply but his eyes were taking on the "I'm-the-leader-so you-better-tell-me-everything" look.

Suddenly a breeze blew through the room and swirled about Sage and Rowen.The hospital personnel backed up and gawked but the others stayed put stubbornly, even though they were still slightly surprised by what they saw next.The breeze seemed to twist upon itself until it formed a translucent human figure and its face leaned close to Rowen's ear.

Sage was close enough to hear Zephyr whisper, "My Lord Tenku, Lord Korin called me to your aid and I am going to search your mind for the answer to the question of the location of your medication.Do not fear, my lord.I will not harm you."Sage could also hear her say something else but could not discern the two words.

She backed away and, hovering above Rowen, placed her hands, open and palm down, mere millimeters above his face.She closed her eyes and her translucent face of wind betook the peaceful expression Sage knew to be that of a trance of some sort.She remained like that for a few moments, and then she opened her eyes, turned to Sage, and gave him an assuring smile.Then, just as abruptly as she had come, her form dissipated and the breeze swept beneath the door.

"What…just happened?" Dr. Bonan, the male doctor who'd answered Kajtim's demand for assistance, asked shakily.

The other doctor who'd come to Kajtim's aid, Dr. Sona, having dismissed her initial surprise and fear and seeming very calm and composed, said simply, "My guess is that it has something to do with them, since they weren't very surprised or scared."She cocked an eyebrow curiously at the group around the checkup table.

Sage had his back to them and was speaking mentally nonstop to Rowen, mostly about fond memories they shared which he thought would help Rowen to calm his body.He knew from Rowen himself that his friend was fighting off more than just a disease and needed all the help he could get.Mentally, he could hear Rowen battling an unseen horror bravely but he also heard him moan and, once, scream in agony.

Sage looked at Ryo across the table and sent a message.Hey, Ryo, help me out here.Think of things to tell Rowen that would help him calm his body so he can fight the disease.Zephyr should find the medicine soon.I'm gonna try to get the other guys to do this, too.

Umm…okay.You'd better explain this later, Ryo said and started thinking to Rowen.

Sage called out mentally to both Cye and Kento, Hey, you two!Before you do or say anything, I know it's weird but I'll explain later.I need you guys to do this with Rowen, talk to him with Ryo about stuff to help him calm himself.Can you do it?

Cye was the first to recover.Like this?Just 'think' to him? he asked.

Yeah.Can you do it, Kento?

Uh…I guess so.

Good.Now, I gotta go.Be right back! Sage thought to all the Ronins at once and rushed out the door, grabbing Kajtim and pulling the doctor out with him.

"Excuse me!I think I should know what's going on here!" Danji yelled at the Date boy as they rushed down the hall, hospital personnel jumping out of their way.

"Later.Right now we have to find Zephyr," the blond teen said and pulled him around a corner.

"Who?"

Suddenly the abandoned hall ahead was filled with wind, seeming to dance about the corridor almost as if it were beckoning to them to follow.Sage did follow it to a door at the end of the hall.At first, he had the distinct feeling the door was locked but the doorknob made an odd clicking-snap sound as the wind seemed to seep through the keyhole just before he touched it and when he twisted it, it was unlocked.

The small, closet-like room was full of shelves stocked full of medicine packaged every way imaginable, lighting was poor, and Sage could tell no one had been in there for a long, long, time.And, looking at the row upon row upon row of shelved medications, Sage realized that if Rowen's medicine was in here—mentally, he emphasized the if—he'd never find it.He noticed the wind was swirling in place nearby, slowly dying down to a breeze.

"Zephyr, where is it?" he called to the breeze.

The breeze picked up speed and raced to every corner of the room, touching everything but disturbing nothing, not even the dust covering the floor, shelves, medicines, and everything else.It filled the entire room and suddenly a familiar, brown bottle flew straight towards Kajtim.

Danji tried to back away but the Date kid grabbed his wrist and made him hold out his hand.The boy's grip was surprisingly strong and Danji didn't resist for fear of the teen breaking his wrist.The bottle placed itself in his hand and he closed his fingers about it.

The breeze immediately died down and twisted into a whirlwind and for a moment Danji sincerely believed he needed to seek psychiatric help.

Before his eyes, the breeze had transformed into a human girl in her teens, dressed in a toga, silver hair swirling constantly, silver eyes specked with golden stars gazing straight at him.She smiled at him then turned to the Date boy.

"Lord Korin, I fear this one bottle will not be enough for Lord Tenku this time," she said and Sage noticed she sounded tired."That is why I searched his mind for the other bottle's location and I will retrieve it but it would be wise to please inform Lord Rekka to be expecting the mystic Byakuen's arrival.You must hurry back to Lord Tenku now, for I feel him fading.I must go."

With that said, she vanished and the breeze died down to nothing.Before Danji could ask or say or do anything, Date grabbed his arm and pulled him along so fast Danji couldn't see more than a blur as they returned to the room holding Hashiba and the others.Date grabbed the medicine from him and handed it to Dr. Sona, who held it for Dr. Bonan to fill a hypodermic needle from.Dr. Bonan quickly administered the injection to Rowen, who was hardly breathing at all.

Sage watched all this and then thought to Ryo, Be on the lookout for White Blaze.Zephyr said he'd show up.You might want to come up with a quick excuse to tell the doctors about a tiger being in the hospital.

"Shit!" Ryo cried and thumped himself on the forehead with the heel of his hand.

Mia scowled at him and chided, "You know, you've all been acting a little odd lately.Unless you have a good reason to cuss, shut up!"

Ryo ignored her and called to Dr. Kajtim, "Umm…when a large white tiger shows up, don't be surprised.He's mine, he's tame, and he's only here to help."

To everyone's surprise, Kajtim answered very seriously, "No problem.As long as you can keep him under control, I don't mind at all."

Dr. Sona suddenly sighed in both exasperation and relief, catching everyone's attention."The medicine is kicking in and he's calming down.I'm afraid, however, that we're going to need more in order to keep him alive.This bottle," she informed them, "barely contained enough for that one dose and he needs more to stabilize his condition.He's breathing isn't even anywhere near normal yet."

She dropped into a hard chair Kento picked up from the floor for her.Holding it in her hand, she stared at the empty bottle blankly for a minute then she, Dr. Bonan, and the nurse suddenly became aware of their surroundings.For the past half hour, with all the rush and panic while trying to attend to Rowen, the three of them hadn't spared a moment to notice the catastrophic state of the room.

"Gods, what happened in here?!" Bonan exclaimed.

No one had a chance to reply though because White Blaze chose that moment to burst through the half open door and skid across the linoleum floor in a futile effort to stop.He skidded into the wall with a thump, shook his head in obvious disapproval of the annoying slick floor, and slid over to Ryo.

Ryo accepted the medicine bottle White Blaze dropped in his hand.Dr. Sona, ignoring the intimidating tiger entirely, stepped up beside him and Ryo gave the bottle to her.

"Marv, catch!" she cried and threw it to Dr. Bonan.

He caught it expertly and almost instantly he had a hypodermic syringe full and was injecting it into Rowen's arm.With that accomplished, Rowen began to breathe normally after only a few minutes.Eventually he blinked, rubbed his eyes, shook his head slightly, and sat up, swinging his legs over the side of the table.

"I'm nev'ah gonna get used ta these headaches," he moaned and put a hand to the side of his head.

"Rowen, can you see and hear now?" Kajtim asked.

"Yeah.Cin I have some aspirin or somethin'?My head's killin' me," Rowen said with a half-grin.

"Sure, I'll get you some," Sona said, grinning openly, for she always loved to see a patient smile in the face of whatever brought them to a hospital door, and left the room to retrieve the aspirin for him.

Rowen started to get off the table but Bonan and Kajtim stopped him.

"Sorry, kid, but you're gonna have to stay put until we can move you to a room," Bonan said, not noticing the frantic warning gestures of Rowen's friends behind the teen.

Rowen's eyes widened."R-room?"

Kajtim, also unaware of the danger of what he was saying, said, "Yep.You're in for another stay here."

Rowen jumped off the bed and ran for the door."No way!I'm not stayin' he'ah again!" he cried and swung the door open wide.

But as his friend was running down the hall, Sage called out, "Zephyr, prevent Rowen from leaving.He should stay for his own good."

Immediately Rowen was struck full in the stomach by a gust of wind, swept off his feet, and blown backwards until he landed in a heap at Kento's feet.Kento automatically pinned him to the floor and White Blaze jumped forward to help.With Kento and the tiger keeping Rowen from escaping, Ryo and Kajtim decided they wanted to know about everything that had been happening.

They each grabbed one of Sage's arms and said in unison, "Now, explain!"

Sage sighed, shrugged them off, and said tranquilly, "Can it wait?I'm suddenly very tired."

Cye looked up from where he was kneeling on the floor, trying to convince Rowen that his staying at the hospital wouldn't be that bad—definitely a fruitless task—and noticed Sage was swaying slightly.Cye was about to get up but Sage abruptly tilted forward and Cye flung himself across the slick floor, sliding towards Sage's feet and stretching out his arms to catch the falling blond.He sat up and gently lowered Sage, unconscious, to the floor.He checked Sage's pulse and found it a little weak.

Looking up at Kajtim and Ryo, who were looking somewhat stunned, he asked sternly, "Well, are you two going to help me with him or not?His pulse is slightly weak and he may need some medical attention."

Rowen had stopped struggling when he heard Sage's last comment and then seen him fall and he was becoming very worried about his best friend.That worry quickly turned into anger.

Without warning, he kicked White Blaze in the belly with surprising strength and clipped Kento's jaw with even more vehemence than he'd meant to but it accomplished his goal and they both let him go.He was at Sage's side in an instant, shoving Ryo and Kajtim aside angrily, and cradling Sage in his arms as he sat on the floor.

Watching Rowen, seeing how vulnerable and helpless, almost childlike, both he and Sage seemed at that moment, Cye wished he could just reach out and touch them and make everything normal again.It was as if everything they were feeling was seeping into him and it felt awful.Rowen felt furious and miserable, even slightly disappointed, and there were still traces of pain, and Sage felt worried, angry, somewhat sad, and, not unlike what he'd said, he also felt very tired, as if he hadn't slept for a week.

Still unaccustomed to the telepathic link, Cye gently thought to Rowen, He's okay, Rowen.He just tired himself out somehow.He's not hurt or sick or anything and he'll be fine once he gets a little rest.Believe me, I know for reasons I can't exactly explain right now.He was going to explain everything, you know, like the wind and all that, but he obviously can't right now and Ryo looks about ready to explode so maybe you could tell us.

Rowen looked up at the Warrior of Trust and sighed."Okay, I'll do it."

Danji felt thoroughly confused now, watching all this and he got the impression that Sanada felt the same.There was a well-known ring in his ears and abruptly a flood of thoughts poured into his mind like familiar memories and he had the answers to a lot of questions but even more questions than before.

A crowd of hospital employees had gathered and Danji could see that at least half of them were fans of the boys but most were pointing and whispering frightfully about the tiger.Danji saw nothing odd about Sanada's pet—he didn't know why, it probably had something to do with that flood of thoughts—but he actually felt comfortable with it.

Danji noticed a movement in the crowd and suddenly saw a face that heralded trouble: Dice Salem.She was a quiet, sweet girl and a good friend of his.She was seventeen and had been working at Hogo Heart Hospital for a little over a year now in the children's wing, where she was extremely popular with the kids.

She had dark, earth-colored hair that fell to a little below her shoulders when she let it down, which was rare since it was almost always in a ponytail, and an odd orange-bronze lock that was always falling barely to the side of her left eye and reached to the bottom of her jaw.

He'd helped her try to dye that lock to match the rest of her hair twice before but it seemed to resist the coloring.She'd mentioned that the kids loved the lock anyway, so, to her, it was worth it to look a little freakish.

Her eyes were fawn colored except for a funny little squiggle of orange along the bottom right side of the irises.She had a slight tan and well toned muscles because she enjoyed working out and was 5'3 ½" inches tall.

She wasn't the trouble but her cousin, Macine, was and Dice was always running ahead to forewarn others of her cousin's impending arrival.A fan of the Date boy, Macine was always making a huge fuss over him and whenever he'd visited Hashiba all that time ago, she'd followed him around, trying to get his attention, squealing over everything he did, and causing a horrible disturbance.Often, someone had locked her in a closet when he was around to keep her from disturbing people, particularly patients.And if Dice were here, that meant Macine would be soon.

Where is she? Danji mouthed silently to Dice.

She pointed down the hall in reply and sure enough, the green-eyed, blond terror was running towards them.

Thinking fast, Danji suggested, "Why don't we go somewhere quiet?I know the perfect place, just follow me."

Ryo and White Blaze offered to carry Sage on White Blaze's back but Rowen turned them down."I think I cin wake 'im up," he told them.

He whispered something in Sage's ear and Sage's eyes immediately shot open.With Rowen and Cye's help, he got to his feet and, leaning on them both tiredly, began to follow Kajtim down the hall.

Cye thought he looked like he was sleepwalking and over Sage's drooping head he asked Rowen, "What exactly did you say to him?"

Rowen just said, "Lat'ah."

Cye sighed._I'm starting to really hate that word._

Author's Notes:

1)"Danji" is pronounced (DON GEE)

2)I know that I manipulated the age for people to be doctors or even to be working in a hospital, but that's part of the magic of fanfiction.

3)All new characters belong to me.If you wish to use them, please ask.


	3. Familiar Stranger

Familiar Stranger

Mia watched the others making themselves comfortable in the lounge-like office Danji Kajtim had led them to on the fourth story of Hogo Heart Hospital.The room reminded her of her grandpa's study, the one she'd locked up after he died and never let anyone see but visited whenever she felt overwhelmed or wanted to escape the world for a little while.

The last three hours had been spent by them explaining about the armors and the fight with the Dynasty three years ago.Cye had told them about how he'd felt Rowen and Sage's emotions though he still didn't really understand it himself.Rowen had explained that Zephyr was an elemental, a supernatural being that can control and/or is made of an element, how he'd met her, and how Sage knew and could speak to her.Sage had explained about the telepathic link, and how he'd gotten Zephyr to help him, but neither he nor Rowen could offer an explanation for the whirlwind.

Kajtim hadn't seemed very surprised, but he did seem to believe every word of what he'd been told.When all the explaining was over, everyone realized they were hungry and Kajtim went to retrieve something to eat for them all.

Sage had been fully awake by the time they'd reached the third story and had been leaning against the massive, dark wood desk across from the door in his usual casual manner ever since.Kento had plopped down on the big green leather sofa with his hands behind his head and Cye sat beside him, leaning on his knees with his hands hanging between them.Mia had claimed one of two huge, green leather armchairs for herself and was sitting with her legs pulled up into it, Indian style.

Rowen was sprawled on the other armchair sideways with his legs hanging over one of its arms and his head propped against the other, one arm flung across his eyes and the other just dangling from the chair.No doubt, he'd soon fall asleep if they didn't make an effort to keep him from taking another one of his catnaps.

Mia guessed that was why Ryo chose to sit on the carpeted floor with his back against Rowen's chair and White Blaze's head in his lap.Her guess was confirmed when Ryo started reaching up and yanking Rowen's arm every two minutes or so.Rowen obviously didn't like this and after the fourth yank, he was growling almost as loud as White Blaze could.When Ryo reached up to yank again, Rowen snapped his arm away, grabbed Ryo's upper arm and twisted it behind his head.Ryo yelped and White Blaze got up and growled a warning at Rowen.

"Yeah, yeah.Growl all ya want, but he started it," Rowen snarled at White Blaze, the whole time never removing his arm from his eyes or changing his position further than the arm holding Ryo's behind his head.

The tiger considered this, decided Rowen was probably right, and he went and lay beneath the old desk.

Ryo squirmed and growled, "Let go of my arm, Rowen."

"Uh-uh.Ya had this coming, Fire-boy."

Ryo lashed out with his free arm but couldn't do much in his position.Kento and Cye were laughing themselves to death and Sage was smirking at Ryo's plight.Mia was starting to laugh too when she saw a familiar murderous glint in Ryo's eye; Ryo's legendary temper was firing up.She signaled to the others to be ready to stop a fight.But Rowen knew how to handle Ryo.

Calmly, he asked, "Ey, Ryo, if I let ya go, will ya lemme sleep for a while?I'll let ya wake me up in half an hour, okay?"

Ryo was going to say no but stopped, realizing there was something different about Rowen's voice.He sounded like he was too tired to bother with anything, exasperated, and positively miserable.The intelligence, determination, and sly cunning were still there and they'd almost covered up the rest but, as their leader, Ryo had become attuned to his friends and he heard the depressing content of Rowen's voice anyway.

He stopped trying to get free and let Rowen hold his arm in that painful position."Okay, Ro, you win.But we're not letting you sleep for more than thirty minutes.Now let go please."

Satisfied, even though he knew Ryo normally wouldn't give up so easily, Rowen released Ryo's arm and settled into sleep almost instantly.

"Umm…did I miss something?"Kento's face reflected his perplexity over Ryo letting Rowen get away with doing what he'd done and Cye couldn't help laughing at him.

"Apparently you did.If you had been listening, you might have heard what we did," Cye said and patted Kento on the back.

"Huh?" Kento was really confused now.

Sage had also noticed the difference in Rowen's voice and though he found it a little difficult, he hid his concern well."What Cye's saying is that we all noticed, from listening to him, that Rowen's exhausted, miserable, and maybe more than a little tired of how his life is working right now.You just didn't pick up on it," he reasoned.

"Whatever."Kento sat down again, still looking slightly confused but he seemed to understand more than before.A low rumbling abruptly dispelled the following silence and, when all eyes turned on him, Kento cried, "What?So I'm hungry!You guys know long talks about the weird and definitely-not-normal make me hungry.Where is that Doc with the food, anyway?"

Mia rolled her eyes."His _name_ is Danji Kajtim," she corrected."And he told you it would be a while for him to get back; you could've gone with him.The closest snack machine's on the second floor and he has to be careful.You know how it is with White Blaze.Wherever that tiger shows up, reporters follow and we don't need all that publicity.So, now that he knows about you guys, Danji is doing his best to help us by evading the media.

"Besides, it would be bad enough for us, but think of how it'd affect Rowen," she reminded him."Those reporters would be merciless and, at the rate he's going, there's a good chance he'll be trapped in a hospital bed.He's fairly depressed as it is but all that extra stress might just finish him off.Look outside, Kento.There are already a dozen media vehicles out there and probably more on the way.Those snoops won't take long to find out who was involved with the whole tiger incident and from there it'll be easy for them to find out that one of them is a patient here.

"Luckily, Danji said this room hasn't been used for half a year so no one will think of looking for us in here and he's going to try to keep it that way.I'm sure he'll be back soon; he's only been gone about fifteen minutes.And besides that, to apply an overused phrase: Kento, everything makes you hungry!"

Kento opened his mouth to protest but just then the door swung inward and then shut behind Danji.Everyone stared at the bags of food hanging from his arms and the stack of takeout boxes towering in his hands.

"A little help here!" Danji cried as he tipped forward.

Kento was already on it, grabbing three bags and four boxes, and retreating back to the couch to rummage through his prizes.Ryo caught the falling Danji; Sage caught the other two bags and two boxes, and Cye jumped over Ryo and Danji, who were in a pile on the floor, Ryo on bottom, to save the seven Styrofoam takeout cups they hadn't noticed before.

He had to land sitting in order to keep from dropping his catches and ended up doing a sort of balancing act.There was a cup balancing on his head, one on his left knee, one on his left elbow, one on the toe of his right shoe, one in his left hand, and two in his right hand.He struggled to keep any of them from tipping.

"Hey, somebody do something!I feel like a seal performing at a circus here," he cried and Mia grabbed the cups on his knee, foot, elbow, and head, and set them on the desk.

Danji, standing now, watched Cye get up, place the other three cups on the desk, and then drop onto the couch beside Kento, who was still going through his bags and boxes and already had something in his mouth, apparently unaware of the disaster which had been so narrowly avoided.

"That was very impressive," Danji commented and indeed, he did sound impressed.

Cye blushed and stared at his feet but noticed something that diverted his attention.Kento had a burger and was about to stuff it in his mouth; the burger was made exactly the way Cye liked it.

Cye lunged at Kento and grabbed the burger."Save some for the rest of us, Kento!We're hungry, too, you know!" he said as he wrestled with Kento over it.

Sage, meanwhile, was looking in the bags and boxes he'd saved and had noticed something.He turned to Danji and asked, "How did you know what kind of food we like?"

"What're you talking about?" Ryo asked.

White Blaze had come out from behind the desk and was nudging a bag open.He stuck his head in and pulled out a very large brown paper parcel the size of a backpack.He carried it to the center of the room and started ripping off the brown paper.He was rewarded by the biggest, juiciest steak anyone in the room had ever seen.When Ryo saw his tiger tearing into the meat, he grabbed a bag from Sage and peered inside it.He pulled out a container full of salad and handed it to Sage.

"You're right; he did know what we like.This would be yours.Now, where's mine?Oh yeah, and an explanation would be nice, Doc," Ryo said as he settled down on the floor beside White Blaze with a bag full of his favorite foods.

Danji sighed exasperatedly."I really wish you'd stop calling me that, I have a name."

"That's what I said!" Mia remarked.

"Sorry.Rowen always called you either that or something rude—he really hates hospitals and doctors and all that—so it kinda stuck.Anyway, explain," Ryo said and bit into a burger made his way.

"Well, you know how you're kind of psychic in certain ways?" Danji said to Sage."Well, I'm psychic, too, in my own way.I have a healing gift that I can use to save people's lives but every time I do it I have to "touch" the person's mind and that means I learn a lot about them and whatever they're thinking when I do it.

"The first time Rowen came here, two years ago, and his condition was diagnosed, he was closer to death than I let him know and I sensed it was very important that he didn't die—now I know why but back then, I didn't know about your armors or the Dynasty or any of that.So anyway, I "touched" his mind and healed him but I couldn't do much against the disease.However, if I hadn't he probably would have died within a month.

"Once he was in the hospital," the doctor explained, "I was able to have secret healing sessions with him every morning before he woke up, and the disease began to gradually die off.I worked on him harder and longer than I've ever done on anyone and it drained me for about three months after he was released; I even had to take a sick leave for two weeks.

"Anyway, all the info I "touched"," he made quotation signs in the air with his fingers, "from him never registered the way it does with other people; it was there but I didn't _know_ any of it.Then you all showed up here today and for some reason it all started to pour in in waves that didn't quite make sense until you explained everything a while ago.

"It just happens that one of the things I 'touched' from Rowen was what you like to eat, so I called in a favor the manager of a restaurant owed me and had him bring some food for you." He paused and seemed to be considering how to say the next thing best."I figured you may need it cuz… well, from the way things look downstairs, you may be stuck in here for a while."

Sage listened and watched Danji intently for a minute before asking suspiciously, "What else did you "_touch_" from Rowen?"

Danji knew from the 'touching' with Rowen how close he and Sage were and that the blond wasn't as cold and uncaring as he seemed.He decided to use an extreme of his psychic abilities to assure Sage that he hadn't done anything to Rowen.

Mentally, he thought to Sage, _Don't worry.I didn't do anything to him and I don't know any of his personal or private thoughts.But I do know that you two are very close.He thinks of you as the first real friend he ever had, his best friend, his brother even.When he was here last time, every time he went coma-state and was ready to give up, I'd send mental images of all of you and he'd start fighting for his life again.I wouldn't do anything to hurt him or anyone else so you don't need to worry._

Sage gave him a sidelong glance and then said, "Fine."

Ryo looked from one of them to the other and said, "Oookaaay, now I'm _positive_ today is a record day for weirdness.What did I miss?"

"Never mind," both Danji and Sage said in unison.

Mia spoke up."What did you mean about the way things look downstairs?How long will we be stuck here?" she asked Danji.

He sighed, not looking forward to giving the news he carried, and replied, "Well, at the moment, the press room is full of reporters and security's having a time of it keeping a few of the snoopier ones out of files and stuff.There's this one guy who's really stubborn and he seems to practically be setting up camp down there so it could be as long as three days before it's safe for you to leave."

Thanks to his new ability of detecting and experiencing others' emotions, though still uncertain and a little frightened by it, Cye could feel that Danji was nervous and holding something back."You're not telling us something.There's more."

Danji, still unused to the unnatural abilities of these boys, even if he had some himself, blinked at Cye and said slowly, "Y-yeah.Uh…there's a girl who works here who is kinda giving info to that one reporter about you.She's a real jerk in my opinion and not worth a flip.Her cousin's a nice girl though, and she's doing her best to keep that rat quiet, but I don't think even Dice can control Macine for very long.Sorry."He hung his head, feeling like a bit of a failure.

Cye felt that and immediately felt guilty for making him finish his news and shifted uncomfortably in his seat.

Mia gave him a half-smile, knowing why Cye was fidgeting, to say it was okay and turned to the source of Cye's discomfort."It's okay," she reassured Danji."It's not your fault and there's not much you can do about it.It's just too bad I don't at least have my laptop.The whole thing with the Zephyr reminded me of one of those cryptic poems Grandfather used to make me learn and, knowing Grandfather, he probably had it on some file or other and maybe an explanation for Rowen's whirlwind, too.But I guess the chances of me getting hold of either the files or my laptop are pretty slim, huh?"

After gulping down the last of his food, Cye raised a finger to halt Mia's thoughts."Not exactly…" he began hesitantly.

"What?" Mia asked.When Cye didn't answer immediately, she got up and walked towards him."What?!Cye Mouri, if you don't tell me how I can get my stuff this instant, I'm going to kill you!" she said, her hands curled to strangle him.

Cye held up his hands in defense and said quickly, "Okay, okay!I'll tell you!I just thought it might not be such a good idea after all.No need to get violent, Mia."

Mia relented and crossed her arms, tapping her foot impatiently."Well?"

Cye smiled and said, 'The other day, Rowen was complaining to me about not getting to do much flying and I thought maybe he could just go out the window and go get your stuff for you, Mia.Or even better, if he's up to it, he could just fly us all out of here.Except, there's one problem with that idea.I, umm…I'm sorta scared of heights," he finished sheepishly, blushing furiously.He could feel the amusement growing in his friends and knew what was coming.

They held back the amusement, for the moment, and only with effort."But what about all those times during fights and stuff? You were up way high then," Mia pointed out.

"Well, there was all the adrenalin and I couldn't exactly say 'hey, you guys, I can't fight and help save the bleeding world cuz I'm scared of heights', now could I?" Cye retorted, his accent becoming heavy with his emotion."But that's not the point; the point is…oooh, never mind!"

Everyone blinked at him once, twice, then burst out laughing.After a little while, Ryo wiped away his tears, stifled another laugh, and said, "Okay, okay, so Rowen flying us out of here's not happening due to Cye's little, uh…problem."That earned some more laughter at Cye's expense.

Ryo choked as he held another laugh back, coughed, and continued, "But maybe he can go get some stuff for us since we'll be here awhile.Then again, maybe that's not a good idea either.He may just not come back once he's out, what with him hating the hospital so much and all."

Kento mumbled around a mouthful of his fourth burger, "Flo flend thumbbunny mif bin."

Danji shook his head and asked, "What did he say?"

Cye, used to interpreting Kento's food disoriented words, grinned."He said 'So send somebody with him'.I agree, too; that might work.But who'll go?"

"How 'bout Sage?" suggested Mia."At least, Rowen listens to him…half the time."

"Yeah, but he won't let me go with him," Sage told them.

"How do you know?" Mia asked.

Sage tapped the side of his head with his forefinger, indicating the telepathic link."He told me so."

Sure enough, Rowen's eyes were wide open and he was sitting up in his chair and eyeing Sage with a knowing, mischievous smile."If yer so worried 'bout me not comin' back, then I'll take anyone here, even White Blaze, but I'm not goin' up with Sage.I'd rather not crash an' I can't concentrate when I'm laughin' my head off at 'im."

Sage growled warningly, "Shut up, Rowen."

Rowen just smiled and continued."Sage might not be scared o' heights—heck, he actually _likes_ goin' on airplane flights—but he doesn' like the way I fly.Ya know, with nothin' solid, just an aura bubble.Kinda makes 'im scream," he laughed.

Sage lunged and tackled him, knocking him out of the chair to the floor, trying to strangle him, Rowen laughing the whole time.The others pulled Sage off but, try as they might, no one could keep a straight face for long.Sage scowled at the laughter and growled constant threats at Rowen, who was still sitting on the floor and laughing, too.

Just then, there was an urgent knock at the door and everyone shut up.Ryo glanced about the room in search of a place for White Blaze to hide and decided behind the desk would have to do."White Blaze, get back there quick," he whispered to his tiger.

Once White Blaze was hidden, Danji cautiously opened the door a crack, only to have it knocked wide open from the other side.A brown-haired, fawn-eyed girl in nurse's uniform charged in breathless, and stumbled forward in her rush to enter the room.Kento reached out and caught her before she hit the floor and stood her on her feet.

She brushed a strange, orangish-bronze lock away from her left eye sheepishly and said, "Umm…thanks.I, uh, guess I was in too big a hurry, huh?"She looked up at him and they stared at each other as if in shock.The girl stuttered, "D-d-do I…do I know you?"

Kento scratched his head and frowned."I was about to ask you the same thing."

Danji stepped up and put a hand on the girl's shoulder."Dice Salem, meet Kento Fuan.Unless you two _do_ already know each other.Do you?"

Both frowned and said in unison, "I'm not sure."Then they stared at each other again, even more surprised and confused than before.

Danji had to know something else, though."Hey, Dice, why are you here anyway?"

She snapped out of her reverie and said in one breath, "I'm sorry, Danji.I held her off as long as I could.I even locked her in the janitor's closet but she got out somehow and she told him everything and I'm just _sooo_ sorry!"

"Whoa!Slow down, Dice.Now, what happened?" Danji ordered calmly.

Dice threw up her hands in exasperation."Never mind!Macine's bringing that reporter, Borum, up here and you've got to get out _quick_!They'll be here any second."She turned to Rowen, who was starting to get to his feet."She told Borum about you and he's looking to pin you for info.I've seen him "interviewing" patients before and he's the cruelest, most merciless man on Earth, so I suggest steering clear," she warned.

At the word 'patient', Rowen grimaced and made a move as if to jump out the nearby window, but Sage put a hand on his shoulder."Steady, Ro."

Rowen met Sage's eyes and took a deep breath.Then he turned to Dice."Well, how much time do we have?"

Dice didn't hear him; she was poking her head out the door to peer down the hall towards the stairs.Suddenly she gasped, "Oh no!" and slammed the door shut, locking it quickly."Here they come!"

Ryo took charge."Okay, we've got one option and we've gotta take it.Kento, cover Cye's eyes.Mia, open the window," he ordered.Seeing Sage about to say something, he shook his head."Sorry, Sage, but Rowen's flying us outta here whether you like it or not."

Rowen was smiling from ear to ear, glad to have a chance to fly without someone automatically giving him a long list of reasons why he shouldn't."Ey, Ryo, if I have to take 'im up, then yer gonna have to keep 'im from screamin' or I'll start laughin' an' lose my concentration."

Ryo laughed and said he'd keep Sage quiet, while Sage made mental notes to beat Rowen to death once they got out of there.

"Wait, wait!" Dice interrupted Rowen and Ryo.She looked Rowen square in the eyes."You…you can _fly_?!"

"Uh…yeah."

"Oh, man.That's…that's—"

Rowen finished for her."Weird?"

"Uh-huh."

Mia had discovered the window hadn't been opened for a long time, its sill and frame were dusty and rusty, and for all the effort she put into it, it wouldn't budge.Even all the muscle she'd developed through her secret workouts since Rowen's diagnosis all that time ago—which she'd started doing because she'd been so stressed and figured it would help her blow some steam, which it did—didn't help.

She snarled at it, angry, because she knew what would happen when that reporter, Borum, and that snitch nurse, Macine, got here.She loved the boys as a sort of sister, guardian, and just a good friend.They lived with her half the summer and on weekends and holidays but they went home for school and to be with their families, except for Ryo.He lived all but the holidays and an occasional weekend, when he went to visit his grandmother, at Mia's house.

The thought that some fleabag reporter looking for a story was about to wreak their lives with his snooping and maybe expose them was only half her motive for what she did.She was also finding that when living around Ryo's temper, it could rub off if you weren't careful and apparently some of it had rubbed off on her.And she'd been having a really, really bad day—in fact, the whole week had been a living hell—so with all those motives added up, her next action didn't surprise her _too much_ but it shocked everyone else a bit.

She backed away from the stubborn window, lined it up with her right leg, and charged.About three feet from the wall, she jumped and her right foot made contact with the glass, and as the windowpane exploded into a thousand glittering, diamond-like pieces, she planted her left foot against the windowsill and pushed herself away from the potentially dangerous shards.

When she looked at the other's faces, she saw pure shocked surprise, but the only explanation she could offer was a shrug and, "It wouldn't open."

* * * * *

"Stupid rookies," the girl muttered for about the three-hundredth time."Always gettin' in the way."

The man driving the car she was sitting in the back seat of glanced at the oriental-Hispanic looking girl mumbling to herself in various languages in his rearview mirror and asked again, "You sure you're all right, miss?"

The girl looked up at him with stormy blue eyes, her hair slipping free from behind her ear to cover one eye, and snapped at him in perfect Japanese, "I _will_ be if you start drivin' and stop talkin' like some mother hen!"Then she got back to the business of keeping her shoulder from moving too much, hissing at the pain when the driver took an unexpected turn, and immediately cursing the "stupid rookies" again.

_One minute, I'm ridin' the best crest on the coast, easy as Pop's coconut pie, next, I'm gettin' wiped cuz some stupid rookie thinks he can run a pipe!If I ever get my hands on that rook, I'm gonna nail 'em to a palm tree in a tsunami and watch 'em get his skin washed off!_ she thought.

Then, aloud, "Freakin' rookies.Someone's gonna have to either outlaw 'em or keep 'em the hell away from me!"

Why on Earth did I ever agree to come to Japan anyway?This never would've happened back home.At least in Hawaii, people know to stay outta my way.

The driver suddenly stopped and another wave of red-hot pain swept through her shoulder.She sucked in air between clenched teeth."Damn rookies!"

"Miss, we're here.You need me to come in with you?" the driver asked, turning in his seat.

"No, I'm cool.Thanks for the ride, man.Just help me get my rig off your rack and you can leave," she replied testily as she climbed out of the car.She'd just hitchhiked in from the beach and she didn't trust this guy.The only reason she'd gotten in his car when she'd flagged him down was because she didn't have any other way to get to the hospital.

The man got out, untied the surfboard from the luggage rack on top of his car, handed it to the teenager, got back in his car, and drove away.

He'd dropped her off near a side door and she had to walk a bit of a way to reach it but with every step she took with her board tucked under her left arm, knives of pain stabbed her right shoulder until she had to stop.She was about to start walking again when a sudden rain of broken glass came showering down on her, giving her no choice but to duck and cover her head with her board."Man, this is just not my day," she complained.

As she crouched there, she experienced a wave of panic without any apparent reason.Absurdly, she felt as if she were too high up and was deathly afraid she was going to fall.

Something made her stand and look up, despite how much it hurt to, and she dropped her board at what she saw.Four stories above her, there was a dark blue sphere floating near a window and she could make out nine silhouettes within it, eight human, one appeared to be an animal.The sphere was moving away from the hospital and she felt an undeniable need to follow it.

She grabbed her board and took off running, ignoring the excruciating pain consuming her entire right shoulder and much of that arm.Years of surfing having made her extremely well coordinated, she pulled a hairclip out of her pocket as she ran and somehow managed to tuck the hair covering her left eye out of the way, revealing the rapidly changing colors of her eyes, always blue but always different shades and hues.Using her peripheral vision to see where she was going, she kept her gaze mostly on the flying sphere.She had to run pretty fast to keep up with it but, luckily, she was in real good shape.

She ran for four streets, turning twice, before she saw the sphere start to gradually fly lower.It descended into a heavily wooded park and she ran in the general direction of where she'd last seen it.As she neared a clearing in the trees, she could hear several voices speaking and she slowed to a stop.Hiding in the shadow of the trees a good ten yards before the clearing, she watched with the ever-growing sense that she was about to meet her destiny.

* * * * *

"See, Cye, it wasn't that bad."Kento patted his best friend on the back.

"Not that bad?!It was awful!"Cye sat on a park bench and tried to make the world stop spinning before his eyes.

"Yeah, well, at least Sage didn' scream or I would have dropped us all an' then ya would've had a good reason ta be scared o' heights," Rowen said solemnly.He was still in his subarmor, which he'd had to don because of how much of Strata's energy he'd had to use to fly them all out and away from the hospital.

Sage punched Rowen's shoulder lightly but admitted, "I may have been scared last time but I've gotten over it.As long as Rowen can keep me from plummeting to my death, I'll be okay with his way of flying from now on."

Dice and Danji just stood a little ways away from the group and stared at them all like they were crazy, Dice still trembling slightly from the shock of the flight.

Mia asked if Rowen could go get her stuff."Yeah, sure, jist gimme a sec ta rest up.Carryin' so many o' ya really tired me out an' I'd prob'ly crash if I tried ta fly agin immediately," he replied and dropped onto the bench beside Cye.

Cye was a little bit too busy to notice, though.He kept glancing around until Kento noticed and asked what he was looking for.

"I've got the oddest feeling," Cye said distractedly. "As if there's someone or something around her I should know but I can't put my finger on it."

Rowen mumbled, "It's prob'ly yer elemental."He was half asleep, eyes closed, arms crossed, and chin on chest.

Everyone looked at him and Cye asked, "What did you say?"

Rowen didn't answer, already asleep.Sage and Ryo took hold of his arms, pulled him to his feet, and shook him.His eyes shot open and he pulled away."What's tha big idea?!"

"You said something about an elemental.What was it?" Ryo asked impatiently.

Rowen frowned."I dunno what yer talkin' 'bout.I didn' say anything."He looked around at all of them and asked uncertainly, "Did I?"Suddenly he smiled and laughed."Ohhh.It was Zee!No wonder!"

"Zee?" everyone asked.

"Zephyr, I mean.She prob'ly wouldn' mind ya callin' her Zee, too.See, she was talkin' ta me mentally an' I guess I jist said somethin' without realizin' it."

Mia thought of something and asked, "Can I speak to her?Maybe she can help me figure something out."

Rowen and shrugged and yawned."I guess.She heard ya so she'll be he'ah in a minute."

A few seconds later, Zephyr was standing in their midst and smiling at Mia."Lady Yagayu, what may I do for you?"

Mia suddenly felt a little nervous."Umm…thanks for helping us with Rowen."

"He is my brother by soul.If he were to die, it is possible that I would cease to exist.Besides, as his elemental sister I have an inborn love for him and would gladly sacrifice myself for him."

Mia finally got her nerve up again and said, "Rowen said something to Cye about another elemental.What did he mean?"

Zephyr smiled."Oh, Lady Yagayu, you know the answer to that.There is a poem, which your late grandfather taught you, that explains it, is there not?"

Mia frowned and thought a moment.She sighed."Yes, but I can't remember it.I thought maybe Rowen could get my laptop and my grandfather's files since we can't go back to the house now that Borum knows our names and probably my address."

Kento shot that idea down fast."Sorry, Mia, but Blue-boy's visiting dreamland right now."

Rowen was sleeping on his feet, his head on Kento's shoulder.Kento was smiling good-naturedly and holding Rowen steady with one hand."Guess he wasn't kidding when he said he was tired, huh?" he joked.

Zephyr smiled wanly."That would be my fault.I am a pure elemental, meaning I'm made of soul and power, and it is difficult for mortal bodies to endure me for very long.Since I used Lord Tenku to take this form and he has been telepathically communicating with me for the past hour that would be the reason for his fatigue.The fact that Lord Korin came in spiritual contact with me is the reason for his earlier exhaustion also.My apologies."

Rowen's head started slipping off Kento's shoulder."Whoopsie-daisies!" Kento said and had to quickly use both hands to catch Rowen.Grunting, he held Rowen to his side with one arm, moved him over to park bench, and set him down on it.Only then did he notice that Cye was no longer there.

"Hey, where'd Cye go?"

Everyone started looking around but he was nowhere in sight.

Kento shouted, "Yo, Cye, where are ya?"

No answer.

* * * * *

When she saw him get up and start walking towards her, she did the only thing she'd ever known.She prepared to fight.

She retreated back into the trees far enough that she couldn't see the clearing, figuring that way, when she fought him, the rest wouldn't be able to see him and come to his aid, so she wouldn't be outnumbered.She set her board on the ground, out of the way but within sight.

Her shoulder was bleeding again and she cursed it as she ripped a length of cloth from her shorts and tied it as tight as possible around her shoulder.By the time she was done, he was only fifteen yards away.She grabbed a low tree limb, pulled herself up, and hid in the branches.

He walked under her and stood there, looking at her board.From her perch she could see his hair was auburn, he was thin, and a bit small for his age, which she estimated to be around eighteen, two years older than her.Something about him made her want to come down and trust him, when she'd never trusted anyone in her life, except the ocean and her board.

She was about to do just that when, out of the corner of her eye, she saw a streak of dull silver.Reacting instantly, she dropped from the tree, knocking him aside, and took the spear in her already injured shoulder.

It pierced the muscle and wedged itself between her shoulder-bone and clavicle.She stared at it, at the ugly metal spear shaft sticking out of her, the head buried within her shoulder, at the life gushing out of her in a flood of dark red blood.Then she looked at him, standing two yards away, and for the first time for as long as she could remember, and for no reason discernable, she felt warm love filling her and at the same time, also for the first time in her life, fear, for she knew she was bleeding to death.

"Run," she said quietly, weakly.Her earlier injury, when the rookie's surfboard had somehow managed to stab her, had caused a lot of blood loss.Now, the spear had refilled the rivers of red that streamed down her back, side, and front and she was beginning to feel rather woozy with the loss of her life fluid.

He took a step towards her.

She got a little angry with him."They're coming.Run._Now!_" she ordered.The edges of her vision were turning black and she suddenly couldn't tell up from down.Her body was numb from the waist down.She fell forward, but he caught her and held the shaft of the spear so the weapon wouldn't further impale her.

Through glazing eyes she looked up at him, feeling fuzzy, dizzy, disoriented, the numbness in her lower body crawling upward."Please," she said."Run away."She didn't realize she'd spoken in English instead of Japanese.

"I can't," he told her.There was something different about his voice from everyone else in this country that she couldn't place in her present condition but her foggy mind did realize that he'd answered her in English.

"Why not?"

"Because, I think I know you _and_ you saved my life," he said gratefully."Besides, no one deserves to die except the damn scum who did this and believe me, they're going to _pay_," he growled.She sensed that, for him, this amount of anger and hatred was very out of character.

She could barely hear him, couldn't see him."I think I know you, too," she said."You're a familiar stranger."She shuddered and closed her eyes, slipping into unconsciousness.Even as she passed into the blackness, she could feel him picking her up and moving her very fast.The last thing she heard was a sound like heavy clanking metal moving nearer.Above all the noise, one sound stood out: his voice, though what he said made no sense whatsoever…

"Armor of Torrent…Tao Shin!"

* * * * *

Cye hadn't seen the spear until it was protruding from the girl's shoulder, who he hadn't seen either until she'd pushed him out of harm's way.He'd felt her pain, thanks to his new ability, and he'd felt the confusing mix of love, fear, anger, and her almost frightening lack of trust.To him, the Warrior of Trust, that was the worst part.

She'd tried to get him to escape but he couldn't leave her.He felt like he knew her and he also felt an oddly familiar emotion that he usually had only when he was around his sister.

Now, when he saw her close her eyes as he held her up on her knees, grasping the shaft of the spear she'd taken for him, he felt a wave of rage sweep through him, boiling heatedly like a tempest in his gut.He growled in hate at the, so far, unseen foe or foes who were responsible for this.

Carefully, gently, he picked her up, doing his best to hold the spear shaft erect so it couldn't do more damage, and broke into a flat run back towards the clearing—or at least he thought he must be running for the clearing, he was a little unsure with everything looking so much the same—and the others.An arrow flew past his ear so he stopped, deposited her gently on the ground, and called the Torrent to him.The moment he had it on, he lifted the girl again and was off like a flash.He would've stopped and fought but he couldn't risk her life in a battle.So he did the only thing there was left to do.

He ran.

* * * * *

Dice had heard something.It had sounded like Cye and without further thought, she grabbed Kento's arm and ran in the direction of the sound.She knew the rest of the group was following them, including Rowen, who'd been rudely awakened to help search for Cye, and Zephyr, who had insisted on staying, but somehow she knew it was more important to get to Cye at the moment than to wait for them to catch up.

"Whoa!Hey, Dice, slow down!" Kento exclaimed.He could've easily used the extra phenomenal speed that Hardrock provided even when he wasn't wearing it, but he didn't think that wise and simply didn't understand Dice's intentions.

"Sorry, can't do that right now.Besides, you _do_ wanna find Cye, don't you?"

"Uh, yeah, but—," he started.

"No buts.I heard him and something's wrong.So we gotta hurry, 'kay?"

"I guess."

"Good."She let go of his arm and ran faster.

He and everyone else followed.Somewhere ahead of her she could hear what sounded like metal against metal.She'd run about a mile when suddenly, out of the dark woods before her, a volley of arrows flew, scattering the group to hide behind any available shelter.One or two of the deadly projectiles passed right through the twist of wind that was Zephyr in shape-shift.

Before anyone else could react, Rowen was up and standing on a tree branch above them.Zephyr reformed on a limb above him.

"Armor of Strata…Tao Inochi!"

A mere second or so after the arrows had flown at the group, countless golden arrows were raining into the darkness.They heard several grunts and then clashes of metal and a sort of hissing sound.

"Way to go, Ro!" Kento shouted and let out an ecstatic, booming, "Yahoo!"

Dice looked up at the branch and gasped at the sight.Rowen was wearing a dark blue, samurai-style set of armor.He was using a huge gold bow and golden arrows with lightning-fast ease and expertise.The phenomenal existence of Zephyr and her abilities was astounding enough but this new development really stunned her.All she could do was stare.Beside her, behind the bush she and Danji had taken cover behind, she was aware that her friend was doing the same.

"Wow," he breathed.

"Uh-huh," she agreed.

Their attention was dragged away from the normal-teenager-gone-expert-samurai-archer as the other three boys stood and followed Rowen's lead.

"Armor of Halo…Tao Chi!"

"Armor of Hardrock…Tao Gi!"

"Armor of Wildfire…Tao Jin!"

Now, there were four teens wearing full samurai battle armor.And all Dice and Danji could do was gape at them.

"I know.It's weird.But you'll get used to it," a voice said from behind the two.It was Mia.

"Huh?" they asked.

"Remember what we told you, Danji?Well, this is it," she explained.

"Oh," he said and continued to stare at the boys.

Dice continued to look confused and dazed."What?"

Mia smiled knowingly."I'll explain later.Right now," she said, "we need to get out of here so the guys have some room to do their thing.Believe me, you don't want to be around when they really start fighting.I'm speaking from experience.Okay?"

"Alright," Danji said and grabbed Dice, who was staring from Ryo to Sage to Kento to Rowen and back at each of them again, pulling her up and running after Mia as she headed for the clearing.

* * * * *

Cye managed to evade most of the arrows and the ones that did hit him were deflected harmlessly off his armor.He was more concerned with protecting the unconscious girl than himself though.More spears flew at him along with the arrows but luckily, the weapons never struck their mark.

Suddenly, a whole bombardment of arrows came showering around him.One managed to get between his armor at the back of his knee and he stumbled as it stuck there.He covered the girl to protect her from the projectiles and was lucky enough not to have any more arrows cause damage.

He'd just regained his feet and was about to start running with the girl in his arms again when a flash of gold dove out of the trees ahead of him and zipped over his shoulder to strike down a Netherworld soldier he hadn't seen about to chop off his head. It only took a second of looking at the long golden arrow with white stabilizing feathers stuck in the now empty moldy green-colored armor for him to know where it had come from.That arrow had come from Rowen's never-ending supply in the Ronin of Strata's quiver.Which meant that not very far up ahead, at least one fully armored fellow Ronin was defending him, with or without the knowledge they were doing so.

That fact gave Cye an extra burst of speed and strength to dodge out of the way just as a countless number of golden arrows as they streaked endlessly out of the darkness and thunked into dozens of Netherworld husk soldiers behind him.Cye made a mental note to show his appreciation to Rowen later, when things…uh…slowed down.Then he ran for it.Before he knew it, he had burst into the midst of the other four Ronins, all sporting their armor with weapons drawn.

First thing he did was locate Sage, who was a few yards away and bearing the sword of Halo readily.He staggered over to the Warrior of Wisdom and gasped out, "She's hurt bad.Help her."

Sage started to sheath his sword when Cye collapsed.Zephyr swept down in wind form and held the girl up, making her look as though she were floating in the air.

"Cye!" Sage, Ryo, and Kento exclaimed.Rowen was too busy firing at the swarm of husk soldiers that had suddenly surged out of the trees in pursuit of Cye to have even noticed what had just happened below him yet.

Ryo's leader mood had set in and he quickly gave orders."Sage, you and Zee take the girl," he said."Kento, you take Cye.Get them to the clearing and stay there.Sage'll take care of them while you fight off any threat.White Blaze," he turned to the tiger, "you go with them and help.Now, all of you, go!"

Sage's face remained impassive and he left quickly, Kento following with Cye over his shoulder, and White Blaze covering their backs.As soon as they were gone, Ryo drew the twin Wildfire katanas and fell to hacking away at husk soldiers.He shouted up to the dark blue shadow in the branches, "Hey, Rowen, it's just you and me now and we have to try and keep 'em away from the clearing!Okay?"

_Thunk, thunk, thunk, thunk._His answer came in the form of a husk soldier that had been about to slice his back crashing to the ground in a heap.Four of Rowen's arrows were jammed into a three-inch space in the armor, which became empty as a spout of greenish mist hissed out of it."No problem.You just keep doin' yer thing an' try to keep outta trouble an' I'll do mine an' I'll watch yer back.By the way, there's a bit o' litter behind ya that ya might wanna throw out."

Ryo grinned and struck down the indicated soldier before saying, "Thanks, Ro!"

"Any time!"

* * * * *

Kento didn't know how many soldiers he'd cut down so far but he did know it wasn't anywhere near enough.He twirled his tetsubo, jabbed, slammed the naginata blade into a soldier, twirled again, and five more miniature clouds of green vapor formed and then dissipated and five more sets of empty armor lay half-demolished on the already armor-strewn ground.

"Not so hot now, are ya?Shows you to mess with a friend of Hardrock!" he said and flew into a flurry of quick thrusts and twirls again, leaving another three empty armors behind him."Takin' out the trash, smashin' down the tin cans!" he sang tunelessly, enjoying the battle.

Behind him, Sage and Zephyr were doing their best to help the girl, while Danji, Mia, and Dice took care of Cye.White Blaze was thrashing the few soldiers who made it past Kento.Cye was awake now and the arrow was out of the back of his knee.He'd only been awake for a minute or so and was completely ready to join the battle.

"Come on, Mia.Let me up already.I'm not hurt that bad."

"Just a second."

"Mia…"

"Cye, I said just a second."

He decided enough was enough.Somewhere inside him something clicked, he felt like he knew something without knowing it, and he spoke firmly and determinedly, "Mia, I'm not in a good mood.That girl is my sister.My elemental sister.Don't ask me how I know it, I just do.They hurt her and they're going to pay for it.Now, let me up before I really get mad."

Surprised, Mia stepped away from him and gaped with her mouth half open.This was a rarity.Cye was angry, not just upset or in his battle mood, but really and truly _angry_.Without further protest, she allowed him to get up and head straight towards the edge of the clearing, where Kento was busily hacking, slicing, whacking, and all-in-all demolishing every soldier available.

"Hey, Cye!You okay?" he asked absently.

"Yeah, I'm fine.Do you mind if I take a turn?"

Kento grinned and swept his arm towards the charging ranks."Sure, just save some for me."

Cye swept in like a tsunami, leaving complete devastation in his wake.He used his yari quickly and efficiently, snagging a soldier, piercing it with the center spike of the trident, and tossing it away unceremoniously, never pausing before catching and destroying another.

Then he was whirling his trident, leaping into the air, kicking two soldiers and slashing another as he used it for balance between the other two all at once.Before the three empty armors hit the ground he had the two outer prongs of his yari around another soldier's neck and the center prong buried in its throat. Without a hitch, he continued to wreak havoc on the flood of Netherworld forces.

"Yahoo!Go, Cye!" Kento cheered, watching his best friend at work.A soldier charged him from the side and he simply jabbed in its direction with his iron bo, and it fell in a heap a good two yards away from its intended target.Unfazed, he cheered again, "Go, Cye!Show 'em what ya can do!"Then he dove headlong into the fray and fought alongside his friend.

* * * * *

Sage knew the girl was in trouble.She'd lost too much blood and Netherworld weapons were often tipped in poison of some sort.Apparently, the spear that he'd just removed from her shoulder had had poison.The wound had quickly become infected and he could tell she wasn't going to last much longer.Halo did its best to help, putting almost everything into it.The Wisdom kanji was glowing already, beaming slow and steady.It kept getting brighter until it was practically blinding.

Still, the girl kept slipping away from him.His entire body was engulfed in green-white light as he bent over her prone body, his left hand on her forehead and his right on her heart.He held onto the fragment of life he could still feel in her but it was extremely elusive and he feared that no matter how much of Halo's power he used to try to save her, she was going to die.

Zephyr was adding some of her own power to his but she couldn't do much and told him so.She continued, "I feel something.She is an elemental, not pure, mostly mortal.But she is not the only one other than myself around here.I sense the presence of another.I am going to have to try to concentrate my perceptions on locating the other.Can you continue without me, Lord Korin?"

He nodded and she moved ten yards away to meditate, occasionally holding up a hand and sending flurries of wind into the approaching swarm of soldiers and dispatching them in violent gusts, without so much as opening her eyes.

The girl's slightly damp blue hair held traces of black and brownish-gold and it was cut short, about half-an-inch below her ears.A curtain of hair covered her left eye in much the same way as his covered his right.He wondered if she kept her hair like that for the same reason as he did: to make the intensity of his eyes less noticeable, more subtle.

Sage could see Cye glancing over at him every few minutes and each time the only thing he could do was shake his head.Cye's reaction to the news of no progress was to practically shred ever soldier within a four-yard radius.

Sage was getting weaker.His body wasn't used to dealing with this much of Halo's power; it would kill him.His gut was clenching and his lungs felt like they were on fire.But this girl was important.Cye had said she was his elemental sister.That meant that she might have the kind of power Rowen's elemental sister, Zephyr, did.And if the Netherworld was attacking again, they needed all the allies they could get.Besides, as he grasped what was left of her, he could feel some hint of the future that suggested she would be vital somehow.

His eyes rolled back and he clenched his jaw.He could see a wisp of rapidly changing blue power twisting and fighting its way through the darkness and he reached for it.He caught it and held it but nearly let go at the wave of electric-like shock that swept through him at contact with it.He continued to hold onto it, knowing it was the girl's last hope.Zephyr had said that if Rowen died she might cease to exist.So if this girl, Cye's elemental sister, died, would Cye die, too?Maybe not, but no sense in taking chances.There was no way Sage would let that happen.

He struggled to hold onto her, feeling her power and Halo's slowly tearing him apart from the inside out.Finally, he reached along his link with Cye._Cye, I'm losing her.You have to help her._

_How?_ Cye wanted to go to her but he wanted to keep fighting.

_Remember how I told you Zephyr and Rowen are linked and she helped him?_

_Yes.You think I should try to do the same with her?_

_It's worth a try._

Cye sighed and flipped up into a tree branch."Kento, cover me!"

Below him, Kento lifted a soldier and heaved it into four others, disabling all five.Then he gave Cye the thumbs-up sign and shouted up, "No problemo!"

Cye leaped from branch to branch until he cleared the direct vicinity of the battlefield.Then he closed his eyes and felt for her.He didn't have to wait long.A surge of power touched him and he called out to her mentally, _I'm here.You have to hold on.Please.Sage is trying to help you but you have to try and help him help you.Try.Please try.I'm here and I won't leave you._

To his surprise he heard her._I know, bro.'Sides, ya didn't think I wanted to die and never have a chance to whip a couple of those metal hulks that tried to trash you, did ya?_

He smiled._No.Just hang in there, okay?_

_Hey, like your orange human machete friend said, 'No problemo!'_

Cye laughed aloud.He wasn't all that surprised that she knew what Kento had said to him; it seemed perfectly normal.He disconnected with her and thought out to Sage, _How's she doing?_

_Believe it or not, she's doing okay, though she's not out of the woods yet.Good job, Cye._

_Just save her, okay?_

_I'm working on it._

Cye was off in a flash, back to the battlefield, back on the ground, and slicing and dicing soldiers as if he'd never left.

Sage felt the girl grow stronger and steadier so he held on even tighter to the strand of her life.Slowly, he drew the strand back with him, waiting for her to catch it.She did and it snapped taught.Instantly, he was thrown back and opened his eyes to see her gasping and trying to stand up, already in a sitting position.Safe in the knowledge that she was alive and, as a glance at her shoulder told him, healed from the intense concentration of the Halo power, he let go of consciousness, crumpling over.The girl caught his head before it hit a rock.

"Sage!" Mia cried and she, Danji, and Dice rushed over to him.

"What's wrong with him?" Dice asked.

Mia looked him over, found no wound, and told the two doctors, "He used too much power to save her.It might've killed him."

Danji's face was set and grim."Not if I can help it," he said."Is there any way to get the armor off of him?"

Mia shook her head.

"Okay, then we'll have to wake him up."

"How do we do that?" Dice questioned.

The girl spoke up."Water."

"Huh?" three voices asked.

"My clothes are still wet from surfing.Let me do it," she commanded.

The others moved aside and she pulled her top off.She was wearing a tank top underneath.She twisted her surf-top over his face, wringing out a small waterfall of saltwater.It splashed on him and he asked groggily, "What happened?"

"Never mind that.These people," she said and gestured to the other three, "need ya to take off your armor or whatever ya call this big hunk of metal.I suggest ya do it before ya pass out again."

The Halo vanished and Sage lapsed into unconsciousness again, weaker than before.

Danji and Dice went to work fast, Danji using years of medical experience and his healing gift and Dice using a natural talent.Mia watched them meticulously doing their best to keep Sage alive.

He'd used a lot of power before, astonishing amounts on several occasions, but she knew the power of the armors was extreme and intense, and it was all too easy for the Ronins to overdo it.The battles against Saber Stryke, Sun Devil, and Saranbo had nearly killed them at times.On the few occasions Sage had used the healing power of Halo, it had only been small amounts but this time he'd used so much.

"Is he going to be okay?" she asked.

Dice spared a glance at her."Well," she said, "we can keep him breathing, that's easy.What he needs is for us to oxygenate his blood.That armor stuff kinda messed up his blood content a bit.I just don't know how we're gonna do that, is all."

Zephyr left her meditation, throwing a couple more wind gusts into the melee at the edge of the clearing, and came over."I can do that.I am made of air after all.Just stand back."

They did so and her hand shape-shifted, becoming transparent but holding the form of a hand.She gently opened Sage's mouth with her solid hand and then slid the other one in.A few seconds later she pulled back and said, "All done.His blood's oxygen content should regain its normal levels within the next few minutes."

Mia noticed something."Hey, where'd that girl go?"

If they'd thought to look in that particular direction, they would have seen her…fighting alongside Cye, with no more than her fists and feet.

* * * * *

Ryo sliced two soldiers in half, each one receiving a quick swipe from a katana, and the husk-armors fell in a harmless heap.Ryo grinned wickedly and charged another soldier, spinning around and using a low kick to bring the soldier's legs out from under it.A quick thrust of a katana and the greenish mist leaked through the fresh hole in the chest-plate of the armor.Instantly, Ryo was attacking more soldiers.

There was a large group of soldiers nearby on the crest of a rise with a strange weapon that looked like a cross between a bazooka, a catapult, and a cannon.They were lining the weapon up with the clearing, slowly and deliberately, and though he didn't know just what the thing would do, Ryo wasn't going to take any chances.

He snapped his katanas together and prepared to use his special attack to permanently disable the weapon.Not to mention sending every one of the soldiers handling it to what, if—impossibly—they had souls, they'd consider an early hell.

"FLARE…UP…NOW!!!"

* * * * *

Rowen fired arrow after arrow after arrow, nearly twenty within one second, each one hitting its mark.He was fully immersed in the battle and wouldn't have noticed if a grenade went off somewhere near him.A group of Netherworld archers were doing their best to shoot him down, but he either blocked their shots with his bow or shot them down with his own arrows.

"That the best ya can do?!" he taunted them, and fired another fifteen arrows at the group, forcing them to scatter.

They regrouped in another area and he jumped from the branch he was holding as his perch to let loose some more of Strata's golden arrows.There was no way in hell he could've expected it.A sudden unbearable fiery pain engulfed his legs, causing him to scream loud enough to be heard a mile away.He barely had time to whirl and send seven arrows shooting into seven soldiers on the rise behind him, killing them dead, before his world began to tip and tilt and spin.

He dropped his bow and stood there with a blank look on his face, his eyes just as blank, knowing subconsciously that this was the beginning of shock.He couldn't even feel his legs, though he knew he was standing on them.He saw a group of soldiers coming, spears ready in hand, and he was helpless to defend himself, just like on an occasion in the Netherworld years ago when he and Ryo had been fighting for the others and Kayura had struck him down.Sure, he'd been playing possum in the hopes the soldiers would take him to wherever they were keeping the others, but they had still mauled him.

_Déjà vu,_ he thought.Then he collapsed.

* * * * *

When he heard Rowen scream, Ryo knew his mistake.The soldiers he'd been aiming for had tricked him.The rise they'd been on had been blocking his view of what was on the other side.Rowen had been over there, out of Ryo's sight.The soldiers had simply moved aside and allowed Ryo's sure-kill to pass on through the rise, cutting a scorched wound through the earth, and pin Rowen.

"Oh gods, please no…" he whispered and ran for the now charred and blackened area.

* * * * *

Zephyr screamed.She fell to her side and began to writhe about.Sage had just sat up a minute ago and now he rushed to her side.He looked her over and was startled to see her legs covered in burns.

"Oh, gods, Zee.What happened?" he asked.

She stopped muttering in Greek long enough to speak in Japanese."I believe my Lord Tenku has obtained serious injury," she gasped."My form is reflecting his condition."

She cried out in Greek, "Oh, gods on Olympus, help me.Oh, dear, mighty Zeus, great, wise Athena.Save my Lord."

Mia managed to translate most of the wind elementals last three sentences."She's praying to the ancient Greek deities.You know, Zeus and Athena and all those things.I think she just asked them to save her lord?"

"That would be Rowen," Sage said."Well, I hope her gods are listening."

Zephyr had lost control of her form, her arms continuously shifted from wind to flesh.She screamed again and a new wound appeared in her side, looking as if blood should stream from it in a flood, but since she wasn't human, none did.That didn't stop the pain, though.

Danji, Mia, Dice, and Sage tried to help her but nothing could be done.Two more wounds appeared as she screamed yet again, one in her left leg, the other on the back of her right shoulder blade.Sage stood and looked towards Kento and Cye, surprised to see the mysterious girl fighting at Cye's side but with more urgent concerns than stopping to think about that.

He called out to the other Ronins, "Guys, something's wrong with Rowen!Whatever it is is killing Zee.We have to do something!"

Kento glanced over at Zephyr and nodded in agreement before striking down two more soldiers.Cye called over his shoulder, "What do we do?"

"Cye, you go find Rowen.Kento you go with him in case you need to bring Rowen back."

"What about me?" the girl asked and used her fist to flatten the face of a soldier.

"You come back over here.That way, if Cye gets hurt, we'll know."

She looked confused but said, " 'Kay."

Cye and Kento took off towards the last place they'd seen Ryo and Rowen.The girl ran over to join Mia and the others; Danji was trying to use his healing gift without much success, while, with White Blaze, Sage took up the battle against the soldiers, already fully armored again.And the whole time, Zephyr was screaming and more wounds were appearing.

* * * * *

Ryo ran faster than he'd ever run in his life, simply swinging his katanas from side to side to dispatch any soldiers in the way.He came to the top of the blackened rise sparing a glance at the armors of the soldiers he'd been aiming for—and missed—when he'd made his mistake.They each had an arrow sunk in the very center of the chest-plates, as if to make up for his mistake.He ran past them.On the other side of the rise, he saw something that made his worry boil and burst into his renowned fury.

A crowd of husk soldiers was packed in a bunch and jabbing weapons downward at something—or _someone_.The crowd parted for a moment and he saw a glimpse of dark blue then a white hand guard, freshly stained with red.Just outside the mob, lying as if abandoned on the forest floor, was a great, unique golden bow.That was the only motive Ryo needed before he let loose an inhuman, animalistic half-growl, half-scream of rage.

_"GET THE HELL AWAY FROM HIM, YOU DAMN BASTARDS!!!"_

He plunged into the swarm, screaming at the soldiers, striking them down mercilessly, rage fueling the fire that the Ronin of Wildfire's spirit was.For every armor on the ground, freshly emptied and now coming apart at the hinges, another soldier stood there, fighting him for no reason other than that was what they was supposed to do.

The last time Rowen had been down like this, it hadn't been Ryo's fault and besides, Rowen had been faking.Oh, but what a guilt trip he went on anyway!Kayura had still been evil to the core at the time, unaware of her lineage, and Rowen had continuously saved Ryo's butt by willingly sacrificing himself, each time barely getting out alive.Then, in an attempt to buy them some time to save the others, he'd done it again.And it had worked…sort of.

Kayura had struck Rowen down, out of the sky.Ryo, helpless to intervene, had watched as Rowen fell too far away for him to reach his friend.Rowen had managed to land on his feet, but he'd fallen to his knees anyway.Nearby soldiers had pounced on him in that split moment of vulnerability and speared him to the ground.Ryo had tried to get to him but the soldiers had strung Rowen up on a Netherworld barge like a prize catch and gotten away.Ryo hadn't been able to help Rowen then, and he'd wallowed in the guilt afterwards, but he could do something, now.

And he _did_ do something.Oh, boy, did he do something!

"_Nobody_, and I mean _nobody_ messes with _my_ friends!" he shrieked at the inhuman, monotonous-lived soldiers.They went down impossibly fast, falling in piles, heaps, masses, tons.They didn't stand a chance.

Ryo couldn't see past the red war-rage filling his mind and heart and soul.They'd tricked him into hurting one of his friends, possibly killing him.They'd pay, as sure as he was living, _they would pay_.

More soldiers kept coming in floods.He hated to admit it but…_I'm outnumbered.I can't take on this many._

But that wouldn't stop him.A sideways glance before continuing to shred the soldiers showed him Rowen lying on his back, staring up at the sky with a dazed look.Ryo didn't know much about medical science or any of that—heck, he hardly knew anything!—but he'd heard enough during the visiting hours at the hospital years ago, and half-listening to his teachers at school and Rowen and Sage discussing odd things like they did, to know that Rowen was in shock.

And why not?His legs had been hit by a supernatural fire, countless spears, swords, daggers, and other assorted weapons had been repeatedly, mercilessly driven into his body, and knowing Rowen, he'd probably figured out where the fire had come from, that it had been Ryo's sure-kill.What was going through Rowen's mind now?Did he think that Ryo had betrayed him?

_Oh, man, Ro.I didn't mean to.It was an accident.They tricked me.I'm so sorry, Rowen.I'm so sorry,_ he thought to the downed Ronin.There was no reply.Just silence.And that scared Ryo._Rowen?Answer me._Still no reply.Another sideways glance told him why Rowen couldn't respond.

Rowen was gone.


	4. Sweet

Sweet

Cye and Kento could still hear Zephyr screaming behind them but they did their best to ignore the blood-curdling cries.They had other things to take care of.For the past five minutes, they'd been trying to locate Ryo and Rowen but Wildfire and Strata seemed to have moved to another area during the battle.

_"GET THE HELL AWAY FROM HIM, YOU DAMN BASTARDS!!!"_

They froze in their tracks.Kento looked at Cye."You thinkin' what I'm thinkin'?"

Cye nodded."If you're thinking: that must be Ryo, yup, I am."

Without another word, the two ran in the direction of the enraged scream's origin.It wasn't long before they heard the sounds of battle.Suddenly, they were standing in the middle of a charred, devastated landscape that had once been a heavily wooded area.Everything for a quarter of a mile before them within a twenty-yard radius was burned and hardly anything was left but blackened ground and ashes.

"Whoa…I mean, like, whoa."

"You said it, Kento.Now, tell me, where have we seen this before?"

"Ryo."

"Correct."

They continued running and started to shout frequently.There was a rise, with a three-foot cut through it, the sides of the cut also burned, a ways ahead of them and from beyond it came a clang and clash of metal against metal, accompanied by a strange hair-raising sound resembling the scream and growl of an animal.

"Ryo, Rowen!Where are you?!" Cye shouted.

"Yo, Ryo!Rowen!You guys okay?!" Kento bellowed with his hands cupped around his mouth.

_"YOU'RE GONNA PAY!YOU HEAR ME?!THIS ISN'T OVER!YOU'LL PAY!!!"_

They looked at each other and said as one, "Ryo."

"Definitely," Kento confirmed.

They topped the rise and nearly tripped over several empty husk-armors.Rowen's arrows were sunk in the chest-plates.Several pieces of debris from some destroyed miscellaneous object were scattered amidst the armors.

"Must've been some sort of weapon, I suppose," Cye assumed.

"Forget your supposing, Cye.I found Ryo," Kento said.

"Where?"

Kento pointed down into the woods where they could see a blur of red, black, and green.In one motion, Cye and Kento ran down the rise towards the blur.Cye's brain was reasoning out what had happened.

_Okay.Obviously, Ryo used his flare up attack here.He must have been on the side of the rise we came out on.When he fired the attack it hit the rise, cut through it, and was concentrated in the trench made by the cut.That would explain why the burned area is down to a three-foot width.Question is, what's making Ryo so angry and where's Rowen?_

_"ROWEN!!!"_

Cye looked up.Ryo stood with his back to them, looking up at the darkening sky.He screamed Rowen's name to the heavens over and over, oblivious to their presence.

Kento stepped in front of Ryo, grasped his shoulders, and gave him a good shake."Ryo!Ryo, buddy, what's wrong?Where's Rowen?"

Ryo jerked away from him and whirled around, knocking into Cye.Cye kept his balance but Ryo lost his and he fell to the ground on his butt—an uncomfortable position in full Wildfire armor.Ryo sat there with a blank look for a moment, and then he reached up and yanked his helmet off and threw it aside, wrapped his arms around his legs, put his head down on his knees, and started crying.He rocked back and forth, allowing the painful, angry sobs to rack his body and be ripped from his throat.

Cye knelt beside him.He put his hand on Ryo's shoulder and asked gently, "Ryo, where's Rowen?"

Ryo didn't look up but, as he rocked back and forth, back and forth, he moaned, "They took him.First, they tricked me into nearly killing him and then they took him!"

"Whadda ya mean 'they took him'?" Kento asked."Who?And whadda ya mean you nearly killed him?"

"Just that.They tricked me and I nearly killed Rowen.Then they took him."

"Who, Ryo?Who took him?" Cye questioned.

"Those soldiers and…"

"And?" Kento prodded.

"Dais."

* * * * *

Zephyr had stopped screaming.No more new wounds appeared and she'd regained control of her shape-shifting.She just lay there, curled into a tight fetal position, eyes shut tight, mumbling in ancient Greek.The soldiers had also vanished and so Sage had rejoined the others at her side.White Blaze had bounded off after Cye and Kento the moment the soldiers had disappeared, in search of Ryo.

Dice and Danji had given up trying to help the elemental and Mia wouldn't allow Sage to use Halo, fearing he'd overdo it again.So Zephyr remained in a fetal curl, mumbling her native language to herself, multiple wounds spread over her body, each one looking as if it should be fatal and none doing anything but causing her extreme suffering and pain.Occasionally, she moaned or let a small cry of pain escape her but mostly she made no sound beyond her mumbling.

"Zee?Can you still feel Rowen?Zephyr?" Sage asked, speaking quietly, close to her ear.

_Yes.He is alive, but he is in so much pain,_ Zephyr answered him telepathically.

He was surprised at first, then remembered the night on the balcony, when Rowen had explained that she'd done something to his and Sage's link.Therefore, she could speak to him through telepathy, apparently.

Still in a gentle voice, but mentally now, he asked, _Are you gonna be okay?_

_I am not sure, Lord Korin—_

_It's Sage,_ he insisted._Call me Sage._

_Sage.My injuries are reflections of my Lord Tenku's—_

_Rowen.You might as well call us by our names.We're not superior to you,_ he told her._In fact, you're superior to us in a lotta ways.Besides, we wanna be your friends and it's a little hard when you keep calling us lords._

_Rowen, then, is obviously injured grievously.The wounds of my form appear fatal.That would mean—_

_That Rowen may die soon._

_Unfortunately, that is correct._

"Oh, man," he said aloud.

"What?" Mia asked.She no longer thought it strange when the Ronins said something out of place.There seemed to be a lot of telepathy going around.She knew, now, that an inapt comment was probably associated with a telepathic conversation.

"Zee says that since her injuries appear fatal…" he trailed off.

"That Rowen's are, too?"

"Yeah."

The girl stood up and spoke."Hey, who's this Rowen you keep talkin' about, who's Zee, and who the hell are all of you?And more importantly, why does that tiger hang around here?"

Mia looked at the girl."Well, for a starters, I'm Mia Koji, and the tiger's name is White Blaze.He's Ryo's pet."

"Ryo?"

"You'll meet him later."

"Fine by me.Who're the rest of ya?"

Sage, busy trying to make Zephyr as comfortable as possible, muttered absently, "Sage Date."

The girl motioned at Zephyr."Who's she?"

Sage answered for her."This is Zephyr.She has no last name, and we call her Zee."

Danji said, "I'm Danji Kajtim."

The girl looked at his white doctor's jacket, which by now was so ripped and stained there was no way it could be used again, and said, "You're a doctor, right?"

"Yup."

"Whadda 'bout you?" the girl asked Dice, who was sitting quietly beside Danji, her fingers fidgeting in her lap.She looked up, startled.

"Me?"

"Yes, you.Who else?"

"I'm Dice.Well, actually, my name's Gaea…but, please, don't call me that.Everyone calls me Dice.Dice Salem.I work at the hospital, too."

"Dice?That's a cool name," the girl commented."Where'd ya get it?"

"Uh…I'm really not sure."

"According to a man known as Hesiod, who knew much of the Greek culture but renamed many of the native Greek gods and goddesses, Dice was the name of Justice," Zephyr said.She'd opened her eyes but was still in that fetal curl.Her head was in Sage's lap and he'd armored down for her comfort.

"It was?" Dice asked with a surprised, pleased expression.

"Yes.It is, indeed, a beautiful name.Appropriate, too."

Sage looked down at Zephyr, brushed a silvery lock away from her face, and asked, "What do you mean 'appropriate'?"

"Also, Gaea was the name of the goddess of earth, also known as 'Mother Earth' in my ancient homeland's religion," Zephyr said, elusively.

"So?"

"Do you recall when I mentioned that there was a third elemental in the area?"

"Yeeesss," Sage said suspiciously.

"Well, it appears that Gaea "Dice" Salem may be the elemental sister of Lord Kon—Kento."

"You mean—?"

"She is the earth elemental."

* * * * *

"You did well, Lumen."

"Thank you, sir."

Lumen stood before the dark, black, inky pool of oil-like liquid.He kept his eyes downcast, not daring to look directly at the liquid.

Cautiously, he asked, "Sir?"

"What?"

"May I please leave this body, sir?"Lumen shifted uncomfortably.

"You might as well.Make sure it is locked away before you return.We have matters, important matters, to discuss."

"Yes, sir."Lumen continued to stand there uncertainly.

"Well?_Go!_"

"Yes, sir!"Giving a low bow to the liquid, Lumen quickly left the room.He carefully closed the massive black obsidian double doors behind him and then _ran_ down the black stone-masonry corridor.

"These human bodies are disgusting!If I never use one ever again, it'll be too soon," he complained as he rounded a corner and flew down a flight of stairs.

At the bottom of the stairs was a heavy cast iron door with a metal grate covering the porthole.Lumen rapped at the door.

The guard on the other side of the door said, "Authorization required."

"Lumen.4762.Open the door before I have you executed."

"Y-yes, sir," the guard stuttered as he unlocked the door and held it open for his superior."I-I'm sorry, sir."

"That's okay.You're just doing your job, and a fine one you're doing, too," Lumen said and gave the guard a hurried pat on the back.

"Th-thank you, sir."

Lumen continued down the dreary corridor, unaware that behind him the guard breathed a heavy sigh of relief and let his shoulders sag.Lumen ran around a corner and stood in a pitch-dark hall.More heavy cast iron doors with metal grates for windows were lined up along both walls and the corridor came to a dead end.He finally slowed to a walk and came to the fifth door on the left.

Stepping inside, he stood in the center of the dark cell, closed his eyes, and murmured a quick incantation.A few seconds later, an ice-white vapor seeped out of his body and the body crumpled to the floor.The vapor solidified into a being resembling a human but with glistening, ebony skin, similar to obsidian, glass-like black hair, and vivid, neon purple eyes.

Lumen, back in his own form, looked down at the human body and gave it a half-hearted kick in the side.The human had long grayish-white hair and wore a black eye-patch.Lumen hadn't enjoyed his stay in it at all.He would have preferred to carry out his mission using his own form but his master had ordered him to use this disgusting specimen.

"You're a truly nauseating creature, y'know that?" Lumen said and gave the human another kick.Then he picked it up, threw it into the far wall where the shackles were chained to the wall, and a few seconds later, he left the cell corridor and headed back to the pool room.A guard looked in and smirked at the battered human prisoner, shackled to the wall.

The human's response was to spit at the metal grate and the guard's face and say, "Bastard."

The guard's response was to unlock the door and step inside.Another guard down the hall looked up at the sounds of a beating, a heavy barrage of merciless pounding, and smirked."You go, man!" he called to his comrade."Show that human who's boss 'round here."

"Whadda ya think I'm doin'?" the other guard called back with a laugh.The sounds of the beating continued.

After a good ten minutes, the guard exited the human's cell and joined his fellow sentry where he was drinking a bottle of whiskey and eating something that resembled food.It wasn't long before they were immersed in dumb jokes and stories and whiskey.

* * * * *

"How long did you say we've been here?"

"Twelve days, eleven hours, forty-seven minutes, and…twenty-one seconds."

"You're kidding, right, Sek?"

"Sorry, Kayura, but no."

She exploded."That's ridiculous!!Why, in the name of hell, are we being held here?!What's going on?!"

"Oh, boy.Here we go again," Cale said and buried his face in his hands with a groan.

"Yeah, well, she's not half as bad as you were," Sekhmet said.

"I know, I know.You've already told me.Besides you're the worst."

Kayura lunged at a wall and set to pummeling her fists into it with screams of complete rage.At the sight of this, Cale and Sekhmet jumped forward to hold her back and keep her from hurting herself.

Events such as this had been occurring more and more frequently over the past seven days.Just yesterday, Cale had been the one to go ballistic.It had taken nearly an hour of keeping him pinned to the floor for Sekhmet and Kayura to calm him.Two days before that, Sekhmet had blown up and he'd been rather psychotic for nearly five hours.

Basically, the three of them were suffering a serious case of cabin fever, confusion, pent-up anger, and today another crisis had been added to their mounting stock-pile of problems.That morning there had been not three of them but four.Dais had been taken away and they hadn't seen or heard from him or anything of him since then.

Kayura continued to scream and try to rip the walls down.After five minutes of struggling against her companions, she gave up and slumped against them.She was still furious but realized the pointlessness of beating up a wall.She should conserve her energy and wrath for better uses.

"How long's Dais been gone now?" she asked Sekhmet.He had a remarkable sense of time and memory of the precise time of events.Plus, he was the only one out of them whose timepiece was still working.

"Uh…" he glanced at his new watch."Nine hours, seventeen minutes, and eleven seconds."

"Wonder what they did with him," Cale speculated, rubbing his forehead.He had a seriously bad headache."Does anyone know what I did to my head?"

Sekhmet snickered and Kayura smirked."Well, Cale," she said."Yesterday, you decided to practice for a punk rock try-out and so you used the wall for a prop, and welllll…"

"No wonder my head's ringing like somebody rang a church bell two inches from my ear."

"Yeah, and you got quite a large bruise painting your forehead, buddy," Sekhmet said with a laugh.

"Thanks for telling me."

"Sure thing.Anytime, bud."

"You can shut up now," Cale told the green-haired Warlord.

"Sure thing.Anytime, bud."

"Shut up, Sek."

"Sure thing.Anytime, bud."

Kayura joined Cale, this time.In unison they shouted at their comrade, "SHUT UP, SEKHMET!!!"

"Sorry.I'm just so bored.And they're doing who knows what to Dais."

They relented at his sincere expression of concern."We know," Cale said."I'd love to know just what's going on, too.Like: who's in charge around here, why we've been captured, what's happening outside this cage."

"There _is_ a little detail we haven't considered, yet," Kayura mentioned.

"What?" her companions asked.

"The Ronins."

"Whadda ya mean?" Sekhmet asked.

"Well, either, one: this has to do with them.And/or two: we could try to get their help."

"How would we do that?" Cale asked sarcastically."They took any means of communication possible from us, including your staff."

"Don't remind me," she said with a dejected sigh.She really missed the feel of the staff's shaft in her hand.Every morning since she'd been here, she'd woken up and automatically reached out for it, only to find herself grasping thin air.

"So, now what?" Sekhmet asked.

Kayura asked the only questions that always had a new answer and the ones that had become the most popular amongst them."What time is it?How long have we been here?"

"Umm…it is 8:13 p.m. mortal time and we have now been in this miserable hellhole for thirteen days, seven minutes, and two seconds."

"Thirteen days…" Cale trailed off.

"Nearly two weeks…" said Kayura, also trailing off.

"Seems like it's been years…" Sekhmet commented and let the statement hang.

Cale and Kayura spoke together, each knowing what the other was about to say, for it had been said every night for eleven days."Or eternity."

Kayura sighed and said, "C'mon, guys.Let's get some shut-eye."

She picked up a raggedy excuse for a blanket off the floor and curled up in the corner of the shelf-like thing that was supposed to be a bed.The others did the same but, since there was only one shelf/bed in the cell, they sat propped against the wall, wrapping themselves in their cloaks.Kayura could hear them moving, trying vainly to find a comfortable position.She sighed in sympathy.

"Hey, guys?"

"Yeah?"

"Wha'?"

"You wanna come up here with me?Our combined body heat would probably make it a little less miserable tonight."

They jumped at the offer.A few seconds later, the three of them were curled up side by side in the cramped space.Despite the confined quarters, they were far more comfortable with the shared body heat and each other's companionship than their previous sleeping arrangements.

Only three and a half minutes after the last time update, the three were sound asleep.

* * * * *

"C'mon, Ryo, let's get back to the others."Cye helped Ryo stand up and patted his friend's back."Don't worry.We'll get Rowen back."

Ryo didn't answer but came along with them.Kento and Cye exchanged worried, uncertain glances.Both wanted to truly reassure their unofficial leader of the certainty of Rowen's safety and return, but both knew any statement along those lines would likely be a lie and would encourage false hope.

At times, especially after the time he and Rowen had been the only Ronins left, Rowen had been Ryo's best friend.Often, Ryo thought of Rowen as his second-in-command.Ryo could remember several times the two of them had sat up late into the night just talking, neither wanting to go to bed, thanks to nightmares.When Ryo wanted to run headfirst into something or got a spur-of-the-moment idea, Rowen forced him to think things through with his cool logic, something that kept Ryo out of trouble and often consequently saved Rowen's butt in the long run.When Ryo thought of Rowen, the first word that came to mind was: _Sacrifices.He was always sacrificing himself for me or someone else.That's what Ro lives for.Sacrifices._

Cye couldn't help thinking of Rowen's last cooking attempt.The kitchen had been a hazard zone for two weeks.Cye had promised to give him cooking lessons on some of the simplest, most basic recipes possible and Rowen had thanked him but neither ever mentioned it, both believing that everyone was better off if Rowen stayed out of the kitchen.Rowen didn't mind the teasing over his failed cooking and even laughed sometimes over it.Cye already missed that laugh and the sheepish crooked grin.

Kento took off his helmet and pretended to be wiping sweat from his brow.In reality, he was removing his headband, careful to keep it out of his comrades' sight.He looked at it and traced the imprinted design on the front.The thin, gold band had been a gift…from Rowen.

Unlike the other Ronins, Kento and Rowen had grown up together.Rowen's grandfather owned a shrine Kento had been staying at as a foreign student when they were both very young.They'd become very good friends.Kento probably knew more things about Rowen than Sage did.The two still shared mischief and secrets.

When Rowen had given him the headband, Kento had nearly crushed the smaller boy in a bear hug.He knew Rowen couldn't afford things like that.He'd found out that Rowen had been working at his father's lab for more than a year to earn the money for the gift.Kento never took it off, not even when he slept.Rowen was his second best friend, after Cye, and they often felt like brothers."We're brains and brawn," Rowen joked.With Rowen's wits and Kento's muscle, the two were an unbeatable duo through childhood._I miss him already.He's been gone no more than five minutes and I miss him like hell._

The three trudged along dejectedly until they reached the clearing.The soldiers were all gone without a trace.Kento mumbled absently, "Must've gotten what they came for."

Ryo just hung his head in misery.Forget all his past feelings of guilt; he was currently on a guilt trip to top them all.Cye and Kento guided him over to the others, where Sage was seated with Zephyr's head cradled in his lap.The strange, blue-haired girl was standing over the group, and everyone was looking at Dice.

As the three of them armored down and seated themselves on the ground with the rest, Cye asked, "Hey, what's up?"

Sage smirked and turned to Kento, "Well, Kento, you have a large family, right?"

"Yeah.So?"

"It just got a little bigger."

"Huh?" Kento looked around in total confusion.

Dice gave him a nervous grin."She," she pointed at Zephyr, "says that I'm your elemental sister, the earth elemental."

Kento just scrunched up his face in perplexity and then laughed."I knew that I knew you somehow!"

She gave him an odd look and then started laughing, too."You know what else?My hair matches your armor.See?"She pulled at her orangish lock of hair.

Kento scratched his head."Huh!Whadda ya know?It does!"

Zephyr was looking at Dice's lock with a thoughtful expression."That is something I had not noticed before," she said.

"What?" asked Sage.

In reply, she pulled a lock of hair out from behind her ear, where it was kept tucked away.It was as long as the rest of her hair, but it was braided and a deep, dark blue, the same color as Rowen's armor of Strata.

"Oh," was the only thing Sage could think of to say.

"Guys?" Ryo began tensely.

Cye and Kento exchanged looks again and hung their heads, knowing what was about to be said.Cye said, "We have some bad news."

Sage noticed something and had a sudden feeling of dread in his gut."Where's Rowen?" he asked slowly, afraid to hear the answer.

Ryo looked at his hands in his lap."Dais and the soldiers got him."

Zephyr wasn't looking at him—she couldn't since she was still curled up on the ground and he was seated behind her—but said with a wavering voice, "It was not your fault, Lord Rek—Ryo.Rowen knows that.He wants you to be strong for him, not to feel guilty."

"How do you know that?"

"I am his soul-sister, remember?Sometimes, I feel what he feels.He will not stop fighting.You must not, either."Finally, she couldn't take it anymore and allowed a solitary tear to slip down her cheek.Even immortals, spirits in earthly guise, could cry.

Sage saw the tear and wiped it away, pretending to be brushing some of the forever dancing silver hair away from the wind elemental's eyes._It'll be okay, Zee,_ he thought to her._It's gonna be okay.Everything'll be alright._

_I am going to lose him.I can feel him fading even now,_ she cried to Sage mentally._They do not care about what happens to him.They wish to be rid of me.They know that if they kill him, I will become inexistent.Why can they not just leave him be?He is in so much pain.Why must they do this to him?Why?_Even telepathically, he could hear her crying.

The tears trekked silently down her face now.No one else had noticed, thankfully.She made no sound so no one would realize she was crying unless they looked at her face.Her hair made that an unlikely scenario, as it was dancing about her face as if to knowingly conceal the tears.Sage was the only one who knew she was crying and had the feeling she didn't wish anyone else to.

_Who, Zee?Who's doing this?Who's 'they'?_ he asked gently.

_I do not know.Rowen does not know of a specific identity and I am drawing from his knowledge.So, I do not know.If I did,_…_I would kill them.It would be a slow, painful death, too._Her mental voice was filled with deadly intent.

Okay, Zee, calm down.You said Rowen wants Ryo to be strong for him; you need to be, too.Here's a promise, he told her.When we get Rowen back—and we will get him back—you've got first chance to do whatever you want to the people responsible for all this.Okay? 

She was smiling._Agreed, as long as Ryo gets to go right after me.He deserves it._

_Okay.Hey, do you think you can sit up, now?I'm getting a cramp in my leg,_ he said sheepishly.

She laughed telepathically._I will try._

She slowly uncurled herself and began to rise into a sitting position.She was doing okay, until she put some weight on the calves of her legs.She gave a small cry and fell back.Sage caught her and said, "Maybe standing's not such a good idea.Can you shape-shift?"

"I am afraid not.As long as Rowen is injured so, my abilities are limited unless I make contact with him again."

"How 'bout Kento carries you?" Sage suggested.

"Sure," Kento said."I can do that.But…uh…where're we gonna go, tonight.It's already dark and Mia says we can't go home."

Mia admitted desolately, "We can't go to any of you guys' houses either; the reporters have probably found out your addresses already.We can't go to Danji's house; they know he was one of the doctors in attendance during White Blaze's entrance.We can't even go to Dice's place for the same reasons.And I don't want to go to Yuli's.We can't entreat on his parents and I don't want to bring that amount of chaos into their lives.All in all, we pretty much have no place to go tonight."

The girl frowned and began, "Umm…I'm not sure what exactly you're all talkin' 'bout but…uh…I guess you can come with me."

Cye smiled at her."That's nice of you.Thanks."

She grinned at him."Sure.Glad to help, bro."

Kento burst out, "But we don't even know your name!"

She blinked at him."Oh, yeah!I'm Rip."

"Do ya have a last name?" Kento pried.

"Umm…it's kinda a mouthful."

"Try me."

"Well…my real and full name's Marina Kahanamoku.But don't ya dare call me Marina.I hate that; it's so…girly.I go by Rip.Got it?"

"Got it.Why _Rip_?" Kento asked.

"Cuz I'm a surfer.I'm always goin' out to sea, like the rip tide, so my friends call me Rip."Saying this reminded her of something."Oh, man, where's my board?!"

"What board?"

Cye answered for her."The surfboard she had back there.I left it when I carried her."

She looked a little panicky."I gotta get it._Now_!"

Cye gave her an apologetic look."Sorry, I was in a bit of a hurry.I didn't know exactly where I was or which way the clearing was so I can't go back to where the board is."

"But I have to get it!"

Ryo stood up and put a hand on her shoulder."Hey, chill.I saw something back there and I just _bet_ it was your board.I can take you back for it."

She gave him a look of extreme gratefulness."Thank you _sooo_ much, man!Who're you?" she asked bluntly.

"Ryo Sanada."

"The tiger boy, right?"He nodded." 'Kay, Ryo.Let's go get my board!"She grabbed his forearm and yanked him away from the group.

Looking over his shoulder, he called to the others, "Uh…guess I'll be back in a sec."Then he guided her in the direction of where he'd seen her surfboard.

Everyone looked at Cye now.He braced himself for the onslaught of questions he knew had to be coming.He started to open his mouth to say something, but…

"Where'd you meet her?"

"Where'd she come from?"

"Where'd you go earlier?"

"What happened to her shoulder?"

"How—"

He brought a halt to the questions by clamping his hands over his ears.They took the cue for silence and shut up."Okay," he said. "Mia, I met her back there in the woods when she jumped out of a tree and she took a spear in her shoulder for me, Sage.Dice, I don't know where she came from.Kento, I left to find whatever was giving me that feeling I told you about and it just so happened to be her."

Mia decided to bring things to a more serious topic."Alright, we now have three elementals.We've got Zee, Rowen's elemental sister, Dice, Kento's, and Rip, Cye's.I'm assuming that Sage and Ryo probably have elemental sisters, too.Am I right, Zee?"

"You are correct."

"Now, is it important that we find these other two or what?"

Zephyr took a deep breath."I believe that it may be vital.I have learned that only yesterday, a husk soldier was responsible for the abrupt return of Rowen's disease.This was an attempt to kill him without the event seeming unnatural so that you would not suspect anything.That way, you would be unprepared for their first attack.If he had died, I would not exist any longer.They cannot capture me due to the fact that I am a soul, not mortal.They did not wish me to join you as an ally since I am the most powerful of the five elementals as a pure elemental.I believe that the sooner we have all five elementals in our midst, the better."

Ryo and Rip had just returned, Rip with her surfboard safely under her arm.Now, Ryo leapt forward with a question."You mean, they tricked me into nearly killing Rowen to try and get rid of you?That's why they took him?"

Zephyr looked at him sadly."Yes."

Ryo seemed to notice her legs for the first time."Oh, man!Is that…is that—"

"It is a reflection of the wounds inflicted upon my brother."

"Aw, jeez, Zee.I'm so sorry," he said, feeling guilty all over again.

"Do not fear for me.I fear for Rowen.He is not in good hands."

Mia had been thinking since Zephyr's earlier statement about the elementals.Abruptly, she jumped up."Zee, you said you were a soul, not mortal, right?" she asked excitedly.

"Correct."

Mia clapped her hands together."I remember that poem!The one about the elementals that I wanted to look for in Grandfather's files!"

"Okay," Kento said."So?Ya gonna tell it to us or not?"

Mia beamed at them and began to recite.

"_Four in flesh, one in soul,_

_Elements of spirit hold._

_One, wild and untamed,_

_Afraid to trust, riding waves._

_Another, strong and kind,_

_Working for the young, tilling earth in spare time._

_A third, pure and wise,_

_Flying everywhere at once, starlight dancing in her eyes._

_The next, radiant and loud,_

_Loving life down under, shining proud._

_The last, a leader, singing-prone,_

_Stays out West, running home._"

Silence engulfed the group.Dice spoke first."Well, I know the matches for three parts of the poem.Rip's the first, since she's a surfer, 'riding waves'.The second is me.I work in the children's wing at the hospital, 'working for the young', and I like to do gardening when I have spare time.The third would be Zee.She is a pure elemental, she's wise, that's obvious, and when she's in wind form, she can fly everywhere at once."

"And, it seems as if there is starlight dancing in her eyes," added Sage.He honestly thought her eyes were completely captivating in their beauty.

Mia was still beaming, practically giddy with herself for remembering the poem."Now, we simply need to find the light/spirit elemental and the fire elemental."

"How do we do that?" Kento asked.

"Hey, hate to break up the party," Rip interrupted, "but it'd probably be smarter if we continued this little pow-wow back at my place.It looks like it's gonna rain.So let's get going, 'kay?"Without waiting for an answer, she stood and started walking.

Everyone followed.Kento picked up Zephyr to carry her.To his surprise, and everyone else's, she fell asleep within a few seconds."Maybe Rowen decided to take a nap," he joked with a laugh.Danji, Cye, and Dice laughed too, and Mia, Sage, and Ryo smiled.To Ryo, a little smile felt good, if not futile, at the moment.However, with Rowen's crooked grin missing from the picture, Ryo found his own smile rather short-lived.

Rip led them out of the park, headed towards downtown.Not wanting to attract too much attention, the group decided to hail a couple taxis.Rip, Cye, Mia, and Danji took the first one and Sage, Zephyr, Kento, and Dice took the second one, ordering it to follow the one Rip was in.Ryo boarded White Blaze's back and they took to the rooftops, not wanting to cause a commotion over Blaze.A quarter of an hour later, the group was standing in the lobby of one of the ritziest hotels in the area.Ryo had told White Blaze to wait outside and he'd whistle for him once they were inside so the tiger could come in through a window.

Rip was talking to the maître d'hôtel and explaining the presence of the eight people standing uncertainly behind her.He must have complained because she turned to them and said, "Just a sec."

Then she spoke to the maître d' and the two went into a side office.Some yelling was heard and a while later, Rip returned with a now sheepish looking maître d' in tow.She spoke, with an official voice edged with annoyance, to him.

"Now, if you have any further protests about my friends staying with me, either this will cover it," she produced a slip of paper and handed it to the man, "or you may further consult the matter with me.Moreover, to tell the truth, should you choose to complain any more, I will be very unhappy and most likely take my business elsewhere.Understood?"

The man nodded, eager to please.

"Oh, and another thing," Rip said."I don't want room service cleaning up until after I've left.Is that clear?"

The poor fellow just nodded again and swallowed. Rip gave him a saccharine sweet smile and said to the others, "C'mon guys.Let's go up to my suite."

Kento, still carrying Zee, who was now covered in Cye's new blue suede jacket, to avoid questions over her appearance, stammered, "S-s-suite?!"

Rip, with an arm resting on Cye's shoulders, turned to him with a mischievous smile."Yup.I've got the Royalty Suite on the third floor.I call it the Sweet Suite.Four bedrooms, three bathrooms, a Jacuzzi, hot tub, balcony, and big screen TV.Oh, and of course, the Playstation, Dreamcast, and the N64."

Ryo's eyes lit up at the thought of video games.

"No wonder ya call it Sweet.Does it have a kitchen?" Kento asked.

"Fully stocked.You hungry?"

"Uh…um…yeah."

"Me too," she said."I feel like five scoops of chocolate ice cream, three vanilla, and seven rocky road, with the works.How 'bout you?"She was very serious.

Kento's grin was wide enough to stretch off his face, having possibly found a fellow bottomless pit."Oh, yeah!"

Rip's smile was just as big."Great!C'mon!What kinda pizza do you like?I can order up to ten pizzas a night."

"Rip, I think you might be my new best friend," Kento said.He let Sage take Zephyr and rested his arm on Rip's shoulders, forming a three-man chain with her and Cye.

"Hey!" Cye protested at Kento's comment."I thought you said that I'm you're best friend!"

"Ooops.Sorry, Cye.Guess I got _two_ best friends then, huh?"

"Suits me," Rip said.

"Hey, Rip, what was that paper you gave that guy?" Ryo asked.

"Oh, just a check for two-thousand dollars."

"What?!"

"Can we please not discuss this?I don't like the subject," she said, putting an end to that topic.

The group boarded a huge elevator."Going up!" said Rip and Kento in unison.

* * * * *

He rolled over with a groan.The floor was hard, cold, and unforgiving.His whole body ached and screamed with pain.He didn't want to look at himself, knowing he wouldn't be happy with what he saw.He wanted to go back to sleep and fall back into the void of darkness that seemed to be a much better reprieve.He wanted to go to sleep and just not wake up again.He found himself seriously considering that option.Death actually didn't sound too bad right now.

In the dark, a faint blue light gleamed for a moment, forbidding him to die and have relief.He tried to ignore it but it pushed itself forward and shone brightly, slowly pulling him back into consciousness against his will.

_No.Lemme sleep.I don' wanna do this anymore,_ he thought and tried to pull away from it.

He was almost free of the bright deep blue light's hold when a familiar, calming voice, melodic in quality, broke through the almost unbearable silence he'd buried himself in._No, brother, do not give up the fight.Not yet.It is not your destiny to die now.Everything will get better,_ it soothed._Fight.I am here with you.Now, wake up and fight!_

He woke up.The blue light beamed steadily from above his eyes.He reached up and traced the kanji he knew was there.It had forced him to live, as life was its meaning.Unless he was killed instantly, he couldn't die of anything other than natural cause.His arm burned with pain so he stopped fingering the Life kanji and let his arm return to lying on the floor at his side.

He lay there with the blue light showing him some of where he was.A dark, stone made chamber with a heavy cast iron.Everything was black and odd looking.

And he was alone.

So alone.

Again.

_Fight,_ he remembered.

_Okay, sis.I'll fight,_ he thought to himself, knowing she wasn't with him physically or even telepathically.She'd woken him up with their soul-link, or perhaps it had been his own subconscious._I won' give up, Zee.Not yet._

Rowen slowly raised himself to a sitting position.Slowly, the kanji faded away and blinked out.He moaned and nearly collapsed again.Reaching out, he grabbed for something to steady himself.His hand grasped the rough edge of a shelf-like projection from the wall.With another moan, he pulled himself up to stand but as he tried to rise to his knees, a look of stunned surprise came to his face.

"My legs…" he whispered in shock. 

He couldn't feel them at all.Swallowing his momentary fear, he looked down ever so slowly, anticipation tugging nauseously at his gut.

He was still in full armor so his legs were supposed to be covered in the white and dark blue guards.They were there still, but the armor was black from the thighs down, burnt and charred.

"Oh gods," he whispered.The memories poured in quickly.

He and Ryo, fighting soldiers in the woods.Him, going after a group of archers.A sudden wave of fiery pain engulfing his legs.Shooting some soldiers behind him.Seeing soldiers coming to attack him, helpless.Collapsing to the ground.Looking up at the sky but unable to think coherently.Soldiers plunging weapons into his body repeatedly.Realizing where the fire had come from.Hearing Ryo screaming at the soldiers and then hacking them down in a blood-lust rage.Then, Dais came.And darkness followed.

And here he was.

He put his weight on his arms and pushed himself up and onto the shelf.His legs hung uselessly over the edge.He stared at them, not sure what to think.He decided against banishing his armor, not wanting to see the damage to his legs yet, but he allowed it to return to subarmor.

Then he heard the voices.

"You're a truly nauseating creature, y'know that?" said one voice.It sounded like a man but there was a slithery undercurrent to it.

A sound like a body colliding with something forcefully reached his ears.Then it sounded like metal clicks, something snapping together and locking.Then a heavy metal door closing and locking.

"Bastard," a familiar voice said.

_Dais!_

The door sounds came again.Then, the sounds of a heavy beating echoed through the cell.

"You go, man!Show that human who's boss 'round here."That voice sounded like the first one, slithery.It also sounded slightly drunk.

"Whadda ya think I'm doin'?" another slithery voice replied with a laugh.

The sounds of the beating continued until finally, the door sounds were repeated and then the last two slithery voices began a conversation that held no interest for Rowen.His brain was busily piecing together the puzzle of what he'd heard and his memories.

He gasped at the conclusion he came to.Dais hadn't captured him.He remembered a detail from back in the woods.When he'd looked up at Dais, the Warlord of Illusion's one good eye had been a startling, vivid, neon purple._Possession,_ he thought.It was possible.Kayura had been possessed by Badamon before.Question was, who'd possessed Dais?

_Time to make a plan,_ he decided.He set to thinking.And he had a lot to think about.

Author's Notes:

1) The poem about the elementals belongs to me.If you wanna use it, ask.


	5. Tearing

Tearing

"That…was…_good!_"

"I totally agree with Ken, bro!"

"Thank you," Cye said, blushing a little at the comments of Rip and Kento.He'd made dinner and more than three quarters of it had been eaten by the two.

After settling the still sleeping Zephyr in a love seat in the den of Rip's suite, making sure she was comfortable, Sage had gone off looking for a place to nap.When Ryo had whistled from the balcony, White Blaze had bounded up there and was now sleeping on the hearth of a fireplace in the den.

Ryo surveyed the now cleared table with a groan."Great!Now we have _two_ bottomless pits!"

Both Kento and Rip turned to him with insulted looks."Hey!" they protested."We are not!"

"Would you two stop that, please?" Dice requested."It's really starting to creep me out a bit."

"Me, too," Ryo added.

Rip and Kento exchanged a conspiratorial glance."Okay," they said in unison."If it bothers you that much."

Cye rolled his eyes.No one knew exactly how they were doing it, but everyone agreed on one thing…

"SHUT UP!!!" he and Ryo shouted.

The troublesome twosome were about to say something more.But Dice had a look of panic on her face."Quiet!All of you!" she chided."Zee's sleeping in the next room, remember?"

Kento and Rip looked sheepish."Ooops," they said.

* * * * *

Mia gazed up at the night sky.She couldn't see the stars for all the lights of the nightlife in the city.She so wanted to see them.Not being able to reminded her of how much she wanted to be back at her own home where she _could_ see the stars.She sighed in desolation and leaned on her elbows on the balcony railing.She decided not to look at the starless sky and lowered her gaze to the hotel swimming pool below, watching the water ripple as someone went for a midnight swim.She sighed again.

Rowen would have been upset that he couldn't see the stars if he were here._Don't think about that,_ she scolded herself._You'll make yourself miserable._She sighed a third time._Yeah, right.As if I'm not already._She sighed once more, and this time a single teardrop rolled down her cheek.It trembled on her chin for a moment, before falling three stories to the waters of the pool below.

"Hey, why the long face?" a concerned voice asked from behind her.

She jumped at the sound and the accompanying feel of a hand on her shoulder, before realizing that the voice belonged to Danji."I don't know," she sniffled and wiped at her eyes with the back of her hand."I just feel so…so…"

"Sshhh," he said and pulled her into a comforting hug."Don't cry, now.Tears can wash the eyes for the present but come tomorrow they leave them red and hurting.And tears can't wash your problems away.You can cry until you can't see the world anymore but the world is still there and there's always someone to hold you and wipe the tears._Then_, the problems will go away."

Mia looked up at him with a look of slight surprise.She sniffled again, trying hard not to cry and finding it more than a little difficult."That was pretty.Did you make it up just now?"

He chuckled."Yeah.Though, that wasn't exactly the reaction I wanted."He brushed a few tears off her cheek."Smile, now.Chin up, little rose.Big girls don't cry."He smiled at her."I dare you to cry.No, I take that back.I _double_ dare you."

She couldn't help laughing."Stop it," she giggled and gave him a playful swipe on the arm.

He smiled in earnest, now."That's better, little rose.Now, care to share?"

She turned back to looking at the pool."Have you ever felt like the world, your life, was just coming apart at the seams and no matter how many stitches you put in the rips, there's always a bigger one in need of repair?I feel like that, right now."The tears were threatening to brim again.

"Oh, no you don't," he chided in a silly tone."I will not have crying in my presence, young lady.If you must cry, go away.Shoo, now.Shoo!"

"There you go making me laugh again!" she gasped between giggles.She tried to swipe at him again but he caught her wrist."Hey!"

"Now, now, little rose.Behave yourself."

"You behave!" she laughed.Suddenly, she found she couldn't take it anymore."Ooooh, why bother?!" she burst out.

To his extreme surprise, Danji found himself being kissed.Mia had just darted up on her tiptoes and kissed him right on the lips.It was quick, practically a peck, but it was enough to leave him speechless."Uh…um…" he blundered, helplessly searching for something, _anything_, to say.

She giggled again."And I thought you could never run out of witty remarks," she jested.She reached up and around his head and gave a gentle tug to his ponytail.

"Hey!" he protested."Well, in that case…"

Now, it was Mia's turn to be surprised as Danji returned the kiss, but this one was much longer.

* * * * *

Sage was startled from sleep by a sudden orchestra of whistles and shouts.

"Oh, yeah!Go, girl!"_Rip._

"Go for it, man!"_Kento._

"Oooo, Mia's got it goin' on!"_Cye!What raucous event would Cye want to be involved in?_

"Yeah, but check out Doc!"_Ryo.Still calling Kajtim by Rowen's nickname for him._

"I must admit…this _is_ rather entertaining!"_Zee?!_

That did it.Sage jumped out of the immense leather armchair in a back room of Rip's suite and ran to see what all the fuss was about.

The others were gathered around the closed glass doors that opened onto the balcony, giggling, laughing, and issuing whoops of encouragement.Zephyr was still in the love seat he'd left her in but was now awake.He perched on the arm of the love seat as she raised her eyes to meet his, a smile on her face."What's going on?" Sage asked, though he had a pretty good idea.

Kento turned and before Zephyr could answer, he said, "Check it out, dude."

Sage looked through the glass and his eyes must have bugged out a mile or so because Zephyr looked at him and laughed."Come now, Sage.You would not be jealous, now, would you?" she asked and managed to catch his eyes, though he did his best not to meet hers.

"Umm…uh…n-n-no," he stammered, finding himself helpless in her gaze for the second time since they'd met.He had the feeling that she knew how he felt, too.

"Now then, are you two gonna start, too?" Cye asked with a laugh.

Zephyr released him from her gaze and he let his breath out audibly.Then he realized what Cye had said."Hey!What're you talking about, Brit?!"

"Nothing, Sage," Cye said, doing his best to keep a poker face."Nothing."

* * * * *

"Pssst!Hey, kid!You awake?C'mon!I don't know how much time we've got._Wake.Up!_"

Rowen gave a half-hearted groan and said, "Wha'?Can' I sleep in jist once, Mia?"He hadn't been asleep in the first place but he'd been close enough that he wasn't quite sure where he was.

"Hmph.Hate to break it to ya, kid, but I'm not Mia.Now, get up and come over here where I can see you."

Sitting up, Rowen gave a disgusted sigh.He had been avoiding admitting it even to himself but now he'd have to tell whomever that was griping at him the truth.In a last effort to avoid it and get this guy off his back, he said, "I can't."He had to deliberately pronounce the t—thanks to his accent—in order to make the statement clear.

"Why not?They didn't chain you up.I would've heard it."

"Cuz my legs've been burnt ta a crisp, I can't feel 'em, an' I'm practically a cripple!Okay?!" he spat, fighting back tears of defeat.

The familiar voice was silent for a while.Slowly, it asked, "What happened, kid?Who did it?" it hissed contemptuously.

The gears in his mind finally started to spin and he realized who the voice belonged to: Dais.Still fighting the tears, he said, "It wasn' his fault, Dais.Some soldiers tricked 'im.He didn' mean to."

"Who?!" Dais hissed again.

"Ryo!Ryo, okay?It was an accident.He was tricked.A total mistake.He was tricked," Rowen insisted.The tears finally escaped and he allowed himself one sob before he bit his lip and clenched his eyes shut.He started rocking back and forth, silent tears falling from his eyes into the darkness.

"Hey, kid, chill.I won't do anything.Sorry.It's okay.It's alright," Dais tried to soothe the Ronin of Strata.He knew he wasn't doing a very good job but he wasn't used to this.

Rowen remained silent.Then, Dais heard some scraping sounds and an occasional grunt of effort.Realizing what the Ronin was doing, he said quickly, "No!You don't need to try to move.I understand if you don't want to.I don't really _need_ to be able to see you."

"Shut up, Dais.I'm doin' this fa myself, not you," came Strata's angry voice.

_Kayura's right.Kid's a fighter every inch of the way._Dais moved over to the door of his cell and looked through the grate and across the corridor diagonally.A few seconds later, two subarmored hands death-gripped the bars and pulled a dirty, pale face, topped in blue hair that looked like Medusa herself had styled it, slowly up into view through the grate of the cell door Dais was looking at.

"Ey, there, Spidey.I'd say nice ta see ya, 'cept it's not."

_Kid never did accept the fact that we changed,_ Dais thought with a shake of the head._Even Wildfire became friends with Anubis._He decided to ignore the Ronin's hostility."So how'd you get here, kid?"

Rowen snarled, "Ya brought me, he'ah.'Memb'ah? Or are ya old enough ta have Alzheimer's disease?"

Dais knew he'd been used by one of those…_things_…that whatever had happened hadn't been his fault.But he felt a pang of sincere guilt at the Ronin's statement."Man, I'm sorry, Star-kid.I didn't have any control over it.That _thing_ possessed me."

To the Warlord's surprise, Rowen broke into one of those lopsided grins only he could manage."S'okay, Spidey.I already knew ya were possessed.I was jist foolin' with yer head.But don' think that means I'm not gonna be on my toes 'round ya.I've had one too many unpleasant experiences in yer presence."

Dais stared in surprise."Uh…okay."_Never did like that accent of his.It's a tad intimidating._

"Ey, I thought ya were chained up.How'dja get out?"

Now it was the Warlord's turn to grin."I've been around a long time.Around 440 years in fact.If I hadn't learned something in that time about escaping chains, I'd be a sorry excuse for a Warlord."

"Oh.Well, why haven't ya broken outta he'ah?Ya got yer arm'ah, right?"

"I've tried.Seems that these cells are made from something resistant to magic, mystical armor included."

"Great."

"Alright, enough of the pleasantries.Time to get serious, kid."

"Ey, no protest here.I'm usually the one who has to be serious with the guys.Welllll, me _an' Sage_, that is."He was starting to feel a little depressed again.And alone.

"Right.Now, I really think it may be essential—perhaps vital—that we get out of here _very_ soon."

"I agree."

"Good.First, we need a plan; though, planning's usually Cale and Kayura's job.But since they're not in this particular cell nor aware of the fact that you're here too, they can't make a plan."

"What?!They're here, too?!"

"Unfortunately, yes."

"How?Wha' happened?How were ya captured?"

_Yep.Kayura's definitely right about this one.In nearly every respect.First, kid's a dead man sleeper.Second, he's a real fighter, a warrior, heart and soul.And now, he's just as inquisitive as she said.Guess all her studying up on their lives was pretty accurate._

"Yo, Spidey.Ya awake?" the Ronin snickered.

_If only you knew, kid.According to Cale, I'm just as heavy a sleeper as you._Dais fought off a disgusted sigh."Of course.We were ambushed in our sleep, if you must know.Kayura and Sekhmet put up one hell of a fight when they woke up but by then they'd already been injected with the drug, as were Cale and myself, and we were unable to help them.So here we are."

"But where're the others?"

"I was taken from the cell we shared this morning to be used in your…uh…"

"Never mind."

"Back to getting out of here…"

* * * * *

"Shut up, Kento," Mia warned in a low ominous voice.

"Why, Mia?Aren't ya proud of your little adventure?" his all too innocent voice questioned.

"It's none of your business," she growled.

She was sitting in the kitchen with a glass of tea.Rip and Kento had come to tease her about her…uh…kiss with Danji.Dice was sitting on the counter with a disappointed scowl on her face as she looked at Kento.Everyone else was in the den watching a movie Rip had rented.Danji had gone downstairs to go for a walk in the hotel's garden.

"Oh, Mia, don't be such a drag!Perhaps Ken's just curious.I know _I_ am."Rip smirked like a mirror image of Kento.

"Please, guys, leave her alone," pleaded Dice.

"Why?" both asked.

Dice couldn't look at them both.So, she turned her gaze to Kento."Please?You don't have to be so rude, do you?Can't you just leave her alone?_Pleeease_?"

Kento tried to turn away but he couldn't ignore those sweet, innocent, fawn-like eyes.He started to rub the back of his head and open and close his mouth soundlessly.Finally he sighed and let his shoulders sag."Okay, Dicey.I'll leave her alone."

"Promise?"

"I promise."

"Pinkie swear?"She held up her little finger and continued to look him in the eye.

He grinned and hooked his little finger with hers."Pinkie swear."

She smiled and gave him a big hug."Thanks, Kento."

"Sure."

Rip scrunched up her face and frowned."But, Ken!We were havin' fun!" she protested.

Kento gave her a wry grin."Sorry, Rip.I can't break a promise.I pinkie-swore."

Rip threw up her hands and stomped out of the room."You're hopeless!If she can con ya like that…jeez!"

Mia was laughing herself to death.She had to put her tea down so it wouldn't spill.This was very funny.Big old Kento giving up teasing her because of a pinkie-swear with his elemental sister."Oh, wow.This is too good!"

Dice whispered something in Kento's ear.He turned to Mia and, with true remorse in his voice, said, "I'm sorry for being rude about you and Doc, Mia.I won't ever do it _ever_ again."

Mia tried to keep a straight face but after a few seconds, she fell out of her chair and hit the floor laughing her head off.She had to gasp out the words between laughter."S'okay, Kento.I'm sure…you…won't do it again.Go on now.Go watch…the movie or something."

He looked to Dice as if asking permission.She ruffled his hair and said, "Go on, bro.And don't listen to Rip.She doesn't know what she's talking about.Okay?"

"Thanks, sis," he said and kissed her on the cheek.He looked at Mia again."I really am sorry, Mia.I just kinda got caught up in it."

Mia was still on the floor, hugging herself with hysterical laughter."It's…_okay_!Just go on, now!Before…before I die of air deprivation!" she gasped.

He smiled wryly and left the room.

Dice waited silently while Mia finished her laughing fit.Finally, Mia picked herself up off the floor and wiped the tears from her eyes."Hey, thanks, Dice.A few more seconds and I might have hurt one of them."

"Think nothing of it.Uh…was it…is it…um…"

Mia smiled."It's fine.I didn't want to say anything to them because they were being so rude.But yes…it was nice."

"Do you like him?"

"What?"

"Do you like him?"

"Umm…I think so."

"You know…I'm his best friend.Nobody knows more about Danj than me.We've known each other since we were little kids.If you need to know anything, I can help you."

"Thanks.I guess it's okay to tell _you_.I…uh…I've kinda had a crush on him since I met him during Rowen's first hospitalization.He's just…he's so…well—"

"Sweet?Funny?Smart?_Cute_?"

Mia just smiled and nodded.

"Rowen was hospitalized for the first time a little over two years ago, right?"

Mia found herself feeling sad at this question._Oh, gods.Don't cry, Mia.Remember what Danji said.Big girls don't cry._But the tears started up anyway.

Dice jumped off the counter and quickly pulled Mia into a warm embrace."It's okay, Mia.I'm sorry.I didn't mean to bring it up.I'm sorry.I'm sorry.Sshhh.Let it out.It's okay."

"They're just boys," Mia cried."They don't deserve this.They should be able to live their lives without having to worry about fighting and always looking over their shoulder.Why?Why do they have to suffer so much?It's not fair!It's just not fair!"

"I know," Dice soothed."I know.But they have to.It's their destiny."She held Mia away and looked her in the eye."And it's Rowen's destiny to keep living and fight and finish this thing and start living a _real_ life.He'll be fine, Mia.We'll get him back and he'll be fine.You'll see.Don't worry.You'll see."

"It'll never be okay!Everything's so messed up!We can't even take a single breath without having to worry about there being some evil out there waiting for us to make a mistake.I just want everything to be somewhere close to normal.Is that such a bad thing?Is it too much to ask?Why?!Why, why, why?!"

"I don't know," Dice admitted."I _do_ know that you have to be strong, Mia.They need you right now.All of them look strong on the outside but inside, they need someone to be their touchstone.I've worked with kids since I was fourteen.Nearly all of them try to look tough but they all eventually break down.Then, all you can do is be strong for them.Be the shoulder for them to cry on.Be the one to stand up to the monsters under the bed for them.That's what you need to do for the guys, Mia.Try.Okay?"

Mia wiped the tears away again."Okay."She made a weak smile and said, "Well, I should go see if anyone needs anything."She left the kitchen.

Dice picked up some glasses and dishes and started putting them in a dishwasher, another little convenience Rip's suite provided.Suddenly, Mia ducked her head back in the kitchen."Hey, Dice?"

"Yes?"

"Thanks."

Dice just smiled.Mia left again and the earth elemental started up the dishwasher.She knew that the nearby people's lives were falling apart.She knew she was part of those lives now, and her life was in the balance too as a result.But somehow…she couldn't have been happier to be anywhere else with anyone else at that moment. So she smiled, gathered some snacks, and went through the kitchen door to join her friends.

* * * * *

Kayura bolted up, throwing her raggedy blanket across the cell and unsettling Sekhmet and Cale from the shelf-bed.She was in a defensive stance and looking around her with an alarmed expression.

"Hey, Kayura, what's the big idea?" Cale asked as he got off the floor and dusted himself off.

"Something's wrong."

"Like what?" Sekhmet asked.

"Sshh.Listen."

They all stood silently in the dark, listening and waiting.Slowly, they became aware of a commotion somewhere in another corridor, the sounds drifting to them on the stiff air of the prison.

Another sound reached Kayura, but not her comrades.It was a sound like ringing metal on metal.Her staff.It was somewhere nearby!

"Wonder what's goin' on," Sekhmet thought aloud.

Cale shrugged and went to the barred window of the door, looking up and down the hall."Don't know.Probably someone getting beat up again."

"Probably."

Kayura sat down on the shelf-bed and remained quiet, listening carefully to the faint noises.Cale and Sekhmet started arguing about something but she paid no heed.Gradually, the sounds she listened to so intently faded away.

"Oh well," she said as if surrendering.

She settled back on the shelf-bed to rest without bothering trying to halt the others' bickering.It didn't matter anymore.

* * * * *

"Hey, Mia, have you seen my jacket?" Cye called from the front door where he was searching for the missing article of clothing.He and Rip were going swimming and he wanted his jacket for when he got out.

"No!"

"Rip?"

"Nuh-uh!"

"Danji?"

"Nope!"

"Zee?"

"Sorry but I have not seen it since last night!"

"Sage?"

"Me either!"

"Kento?"

"Can't help you, bud!"

"Ryo?"

"Haven't seen it!"

"Thanks anyway!Oh, man.Where is it?" Cye muttered and decided to check another room.He was looking in the back bathroom when it happened.

He gasped and clutched his head, falling to his knees.The pain passed quickly and wasn't very strong but his hand flew to his forehead anyway.He knew what had caused the incident and hastily ran to find Mia or Sage, the search for his jacket forgotten.

He found Mia in the dining room with Dice and Ryo, playing a board game that Ryo didn't seem to want to play.He ran over to Mia and cried, "Look!"He held up his bangs to make sure she could see what he was showing her.

She gasped and asked, "What happened?Why's it glowing?"

The Trust kanji's glow faded away.He felt it leave and let his bangs down."I don't know, Mia.It just started up and it hurt."

Ryo and Dice were standing beside them now."Maybe it was reacting to something," Ryo suggested.

"Rowen?" Mia wondered.

"Maybe." Ryo went to the door of the dining room and called into the den, "Hey, Sage, bring Zee in here!The rest of you get in here, too."

No sooner had that been said than he cried out and leaned heavily against the wall, hands not to his head but clutching and rubbing his chest.A red glow shone from his brow as the Virtue kanji flared brightly.He slowly sank to the floor, groaning.

Mia was at his side and trying to soothe him."It'll be over soon, Ryo.It can't last long."

A loud thud came from the den and another one came from the bedroom Cye had shared with Kento the night before.Then, Cye moaned and promptly collapsed in a heap in the middle of the kitchen floor.

Zephyr's melodic voice echoed through the suite."Sage!" she exclaimed in alarm.

Then Danji's voice came from Kento and Cye's room."Kento!Hey, somebody get back here!"

"Uh…umm…" Mia looked from the door to Ryo to Cye and back again."Uh…"

Dice solved her problem."I'll go see about Kento and Danji.Sage is with Zee and she can take care of him.You stay with Ryo and Cye."Then, she ran off to check on Kento and Danji.As she opened the door, White Blaze skidded in, slipping over the polished wooden floor, instantly coming to Ryo.

"Oh, Ryo.Does it hurt?" Mia asked concernedly.

He looked at her like she'd just said the world was flat."Hell, yes!Of course it hurts, dammit!"

_Grrrrrr_, White Blaze growled.He was lying with his head against Ryo's ear, purring away in an effort to calm his friend.

"Sorry!Just calm down!"Mia cried.

"I'll calm down when I'm damn ready to calm down!"

"Okay, okay!Point taken!"

Dice passed the den, quickly noting that Sage was lying on the floor with a bright green Wisdom kanji glowing from his forehead and Zephyr was cradling his head and looking satisfied with his condition but very worried.When she entered Cye and Kento's room, she stopped and laughed.

Kento and Danji had been arm-wrestling on the floor.Somehow, when Kento's orange Justice kanji had reacted, he'd ended up lying across Danji's back.Danji was looking extremely uncomfortable and apparently somewhat crushed.

Dice crouched before her best friend and asked between giggles, "What happened, Danj?"

"Well, Kento's forehead started glowing which apparently surprised him and he stood up and then he collapsed on me.Now…_I can't breeeathe_!"

"Oh, sorry."Dice stood and went around to Kento's head."Hey, Kento, can you get off Danji, please?"

"Mmmm."

"Guess not."She got behind Danji, straddling his legs, and slipped her arms under Kento."Here goes," she said and with a grunt quickly lifted Kento up and off of Danji as if she were lifting a couple books.

As soon as he was on his feet, Danji turned around and looked at Dice with a look of surprise.

"What?" she asked.

"Uh, nothing, Dice."

"Okay.I think we better take Kento to the den."With that, she carried Kento out of the room, headed for the den.

Danji stared after her for a moment before hurrying to catch up."Hey, Dice?"

"Yes?"

"You work out, right?"

"Yes."

"How much?"

* * * * *

"Leave him alone!"

"Why?Are you, a pathetic _human_, going to make me?"Lumen laughed.This was highly entertaining.One sickly, useless human sticking up for another.How absolutely pitiful!

"Leave him alone!Damn you!" Dais continued to bang against the door and shake the bars of the window, furious with the thing.He knew it was the one that had possessed him the day before.But his fury was fueled by another motive.The screams.

Lumen had showed up half an hour ago with some strange claw-like black metal gauntlet.He'd gone into Strata's cell and the Ronin had put up a fight that was startling considering his condition, but then at least a dozen guards had started helping the thing to subdue him, and within a few minutes Strata was shackled up.Then, Lumen had simply plunged the claw into Strata's chest.That's when the screams had started.

Dais wasn't sure exactly what was going on in the cell across the corridor, but he knew he didn't like it.He could see Strata chained against the wall and the thing called Lumen with his gauntleted hand sunk in the Ronin's chest.There was no blood but the Ronin had his head thrown back and he was screaming like the world was coming to an end.The whole cell and most of the corridor were brightly lit with stunning deep blue light from the Ronin's Life kanji.

Even as Dais continued to throw himself at his cell door, fully armored, he was shocked to see Strata's dark blue and white subarmor suddenly flickering.Lumen grinned and chuckled and twisted his hand again.Strata's subarmor was suddenly gone, leaving him in his street clothes, and the Life kanji had vanished, throwing the prison into darkness again.He screamed once more, the loudest, most blood-curdling one yet, and a little blood trickled from the corner of his mouth before he looked at Lumen in shock.Then, the Warrior's eyes closed and he hung limply from the chains.

_"NOOOO!!!"_ Dais screamed and battered the cell door with renewed rage.

Lumen walked out of the cell and came to a stop before Dais's window.He held up his gauntleted hand and Dais stared in disbelief.There, in the claw's clutch, was a crystal-like, deep blue ball.A kanji could be seen within its depths.

"No…" Dais breathed in shock.He was looking at Strata's armor in kanji ball form.The thing before him had ripped the armor away from the Ronin.Dais could only stare and pray that he was dreaming, that this was merely a nightmare.

"Oh, yes," Lumen said smugly."This is none other than the kanji orb of the Strata armor.I just tore it out of that human's soul.A most satisfying and pleasurable experience."

"You bastard!You son of a bitch!" Dais screamed and spat in the thing's face.

Lumen just wiped it away and smiled."Now, I can be rid of that wretched wind elemental.See, without his armor, that human can be killed.And, as soon as he's dead, that damned elemental will be gone."

Dais had to let that sink in._Elemental?Oh, gods.He's talking about the elementals.The Ronins' elementals.But why does he want to get rid of the wind one in particular?Oh, why didn't I pay more attention to Kayura's rambling about all those legends?_"You're sick," he told Lumen.

"I know.I love it.Now, if you'll excuse me, I have some business to take care of.Then, I'll be back to get rid of your friend and then," he waved his gauntlet in Dais's face, "I'll take care of you."With that, he walked away into the darkness.

Dais stared after him until he was gone and he could no longer hear the sounds of feet on stone.Then, he looked to Strata's cell.It had been left open, as if the things knew he was no threat.The Ronin still hung from the chains.

With the armor gone, Dais saw the Ronin's legs clearly, for his night vision was inferior only to Cale's.They were burnt horribly, as if he'd been dipped in the fires of hell.Dais swallowed hard and looked away from them and to Strata's face.Without his armor, the Ronin might die before Lumen had a chance to kill him.

"Hey, kid, don't you give up yet.You've got a battle to win.They're gonna kill off the wind elemental.Do you know them?Well, if you die, whoever it is dies.That elemental won't even have a chance to defend itself if you don't survive.Besides, I'm sure you wanna kick some ass, right?Just hang in there, kid."

Dais had had enough.As the old mortal saying went, "This just got personal."

* * * * *

"What do we do now?" Rip asked.

"How should I know?" Mia said and frowned.

"Here's Kento," Dice said as she and Danji joined the others in the den.

Mia looked up and stared."Oh, wow."

"What?" Dice asked.She honestly had no idea what the problem was.

"You picked up Kento!"

"So?"

_"No one can do that!"_

"Oh…"

Mia regained her coherent senses."Oh, just put him on that sofa."

" 'Kay."Dice deposited Kento carefully and looked around.Ryo was on the sofa across from Kento's, White Blaze curled up at his head as a pillow.Sage was in Zephyr's love seat, his head in her lap.Cye was nowhere to be seen.

"Where's Cye?" she asked.

"Still in the dining room.We were gonna bring him in here but every time we tried to move him, he'd cry out.We figured he's better off not bein' moved," Rip said.

"I'll go stay with him," Dice volunteered and headed for the dining room.

Danji went to Ryo first because he was the only conscious victim of the enigmatic ailment he, Cye, Sage, and Kento had suffered and because the Ronin was groaning and had his arms wrapped around his chest."Ryo, let me see," Danji commanded, taking on his doctor's no-nonsense tone.

Ryo reluctantly allowed Danji to pull his black t-shirt up and over his head.Danji took one look at Ryo's chest and shouted, "Dice, get back in here!"

"Coming!"When she got there, Dice stared at Ryo."Oh, gods."

"Rip?"

"Yeah, Doc?"

"Is there a first aid kit in this place?"

"Yeah."

"Go get it."

Rip ran off to get the kit.Ryo looked at Danji with a confused expression, "What?"Then he looked down at his chest and had to swallow hard.There was a small wound in the center of his chest, and blood was pouring out._No wonder my shirt felt wet._

"Oh, Ryo," Mia whispered.

"I'm okay, Mia.Don't worry.I've got two doctors here and one of them is a healer.I'll be fine," he told her, trying to convince himself of the same.

Rip returned with the first aid kit.Danji was all seriousness."Dice, do you have your kit?"

"Never leave home without it."She ran for the bedroom she and Mia had shared the night before, returning quickly with a bulging handbag and dumping its contents on the coffee table between Ryo and Kento's sofas.She selected a hypodermic and a bottle, filling the syringe with a clear liquid.A few seconds later, once they'd managed to convince White Blaze that they weren't going to harm Ryo with the needle, and managing to get past the Ronin's movements of protest, Ryo was out cold.

"How long will it last?" Danji asked.

"Forty-five minutes," Dice informed him.

"Okay," Danji said."Let's do this."

For the next half hour, he and Dice worked on Ryo.Mia watched at first, too shocked to look away.Then she started thinking._If this happened to Ryo, what about the others?_She quickly went to Kento.She tugged his shirt up but found no wound._Good._She went to Sage, who was being watched very carefully by Zephyr, sitting with his head in her lap.Mia pulled Sage's shirt up.No wound._So far, so great._

She was about to sit down again when she remembered Cye.She ran for the dining room.When she entered, she found Rip sitting on the floor at his side.She was still in her swimsuit.The water elemental's eyes were closed, and she was rocking back and forth, jaw clenched.Mia noticed that there was water dripping from Rip's hair, forming a puddle on the floor, when her hair had the appearance of being completely dry.

"Rip?"

The girl seemed not to hear Mia.

"Rip?"

Rip rocked faster and faster.

_"Rip!"_Mia grabbed the teen's shoulders and shook her.Rip's eyes snapped open and she screamed.She didn't stop screaming.Her voice was filled with pain and anger but no fear.And the screams were so impossibly high-pitched that Mia had to cover her ears and back away.Her ears hurt and her head felt like it was splitting.She dropped to her knees, grimacing.A crystal glass on the table, filled with water, shattered.

Then the screams stopped.Mia opened one eye and then opened the other and scrambled across the floor towards Cye and his elemental sister.Dice had tackled Rip and clamped her hand over her mouth.Mia thanked Dice.

"No problem.She got the attention of half the hotel and no one's very happy."

Mia could hear Danji telling someone that nothing was wrong, that the TV had gone haywire for a moment and that's where the sounds came from.Mia looked at Rip and gasped.

Rip's uncovered eye was staring right into Mia's.The sharp crystal blue color from earlier that morning had changed to the gray-blue color of a storm at sea and the colors swirled like something out of a movie, as if there actually was a growing storm cloud in her eye._Like the end of the world._

"What?" Dice asked.

Mia finally looked away from Rip."What?"

"You said 'like the end of the world.'"

"It's nothing.I didn't mean to say it aloud."

Rip seemed to wake up.She pulled herself out of Dice's grip and crawled to Cye.Then, she collapsed at his side, one hand on his chest.

Mia remembered why she'd come in here.She didn't see a wound on Cye and breathed a sigh of relief.She looked to Dice."How's Ryo?"

"Still unconscious.He'll wake up in about five minutes.We got him all sewed up and the wound was no more than a gash; it didn't go near any vital organs.He'll be fine."

"What happened to him?" a tired voice asked.Cye was awake but hadn't made any moves beyond opening his eyes."What happened to me for that matter?"

"Never mind that.Do you hurt anywhere, Cye?" Dice asked.

"No, but I did before.Rip stopped that, though."He lifted a hand and held Rip's.

"_How_ did you hurt?"

"From Rowen.I felt what he was feeling.I felt like every bit of my body was sore and I couldn't feel my legs.But the worst part was inside."

"Inside?" Mia asked.

"Yeah.I felt like someone was reaching inside me and ripping something away from me…a part of my soul.And then I wasn't feeling with Rowen anymore.It was like that part of my soul had been torn off and the moment it was completely gone, I couldn't feel with Rowen anymore.I can't feel him now.It's like our link has been totally severed.And even though I wasn't feeling _with_ Rowen, I kept feeling all that pain.I thought I was dying.But Rip came in and soaked it up."

Cye sat up slowly.Then he pulled Rip into his arms and stood."She soaked every bit of it up.She could've killed herself."He looked at Dice."Now, what happened to Ryo?"

"A wound showed up in his chest."

"From Rowen," Cye said."From when that part of his soul got ripped away.Where is he?"

"In the den, with the others."

Cye walked to the den, carrying Rip carefully.After setting her down in an armchair, he looked at Ryo.There was a line of stitches in Wildfire's chest.Just as Cye was about to touch him, Ryo groaned and sat up."Oh, man. What hit me?Kento or a semi?"

"Ha. Ha," Kento said dryly, also waking up.

"I thought it was funny," Sage said, awake as well.His eyes were still closed and Zephyr was still keeping her intense, attentive gaze locked on him.

"Shut up, Blondie!"

"No problem.I don't feel much like talking right now, anyway."

Cye stared in surprise, as did Ryo.Usually, Sage would have been at Kento's throat for calling him that."You okay, Sage?"

"No."

The other three Ronins and Mia, Danji, and Dice looked at each other.This was very unlike Sage."Care to enlighten us, please?" Dice asked quietly, ever the shy and gentle one.

"Sure.Rowen's giving me a migraine—mostly likely, his—and confusing the hell outta me."

At these words, Zephyr had her hands on Sage's forehead and over his heart in an instant.His eyes shot open in surprise."Hey!Zee!"He tried to get away but she pressed him back down.

"Do not move," she ordered."I was only trying to reach Rowen by channeling through you."

"No wonder I felt so weird," he muttered.

"Why can't you do it yourself?" Mia asked Zephyr, bewildered.

"I have tried.I have been cut off from him, somehow."

"You're connected to him through his armor, right?" Cye asked.

"Partially.He and I are, like the rest of you and your elemental sisters, bonded by soul also."

"Well, I know how that partial connection through the armor was cut off."

"How is that?"

"…His armor's been ripped away from him," Cye told them all forlornly.He'd only just figured that out.

_"WHAT?!!!"_

"I thought so," Sage said and moaned, hands flying to his head."Stop it, Ro.You're making my head hurt."His eyes were closed again and he didn't seem to realize he'd spoken aloud.

Zephyr immediately started trying to channel through him again.While Sage was groaning and speaking to Rowen aloud and Zephyr was trying to channel, Kento asked, "Hey, if Rowen doesn't have his armor, how come he's still bothering Sage?Wouldn't losing his armor break his link with us?"

"I'm sorry," Ryo said."I thought you were Kento but Kento doesn't think so you can't be him."

The Ronin of Hardrock lunged at his unofficial leader but stopped mid-leap.A stunned look passed over his face and he gulped."I don't think I like this," he said.

"Like what?"

Kento pointed down at his legs.He was slowly turning to gray-black rock from the tip of his toes up."Uh-oh," said Hardrock, just before he turned into a statue.

His elemental sister was in a panic, extremely concerned."What's happening?!" Dice asked, close to hysterical.

Suddenly, with a resounding crack, the stone Kento crumbled away, leaving the normal (well, as close to normal as he'll get) Kento behind.With a huge yawn, he fell back on the couch."That," he said, "was _weird_."

"Actually, I believe it was perfectly normal in your case," said Zephyr.Both she and Sage were sitting up in her love seat, breathing hard from her efforts of channeling.Sage was holding his head in his hands, massaging his temples.Both looked exhausted and somewhat the worse for wear.

"Yeah right," Kento moaned, swatting at Dice's hands.Dice was trying to look him over for any wounds or such, but he insisted he didn't need it.

"Well, please, just hold still to humor me," she said, gaining his reluctant cooperation.

"Ow!Dice, that hurts!"

"Oh, I'm sorry!I'm done, I guess."

"Good.Thanks."He smiled at her and looked at the others."No one answered my question.And now that I've turned into a big rock, Sage is getting Ro's migraine, Cye's feeling what Ro's feeling, and Ryo got that cut in his chest from Rowen's armor getting ripped away, I really wanna know how it's all happening."

"Maybe our link goes beyond the armor," Cye suggested.

"I believe it does.Yet, there is another factor."

"Which is?" Ryo asked impatiently.

"Each of you had mystic talents before the armors came into your possession."

"Well, duh!" Kento said."Sage has always been kinda psychic."

"She said _each_ of us, Kento," Cye corrected."Not just Sage."

"Yeah, like Cye's an empath," Sage said, still massaging his forehead.

"What?!" Cye exclaimed in disbelief.

Sage sighed."Please don't shout.I've got Rowen's migraine full swing.And don't act like it's such a shock.You've had your ability for almost a year, now.Probably longer."

"But it didn't start till yesterday!" Cye protested.

Zephyr shook her head."Empathic abilities, and other mystical talents, do not simply 'start'.One has them from birth."

"Besides, I've sensed your ability for almost a year," Sage added."Are you going to deny both that and Zee's knowledge and experience?After all—how long have you been around, Zee?"

"Let us simply say that I have existed far longer than most spirits and very likely will be about far longer than any of you."

"Oh, alright!Fine!I'm a bleeding empath, then, but that doesn't mean I like it.And _I_ did _not_ know about it till yesterday," Cye said firmly, his accent enhanced by his emotion.

"Hey, Zee, if you're so…uh…if you've been around so long and you know so much about this stuff, what about me and Ryo?" Kento asked."Why'd he get beat up along with Rowen?And why'd I go stone-man?"

"Ryo's abilities are apparently a spiritual to physical channeling reaction," she informed him."Ryo's wound was physical but it was caused by a spiritual injury to Rowen.Your own experience was what some people refer to as "stoning," though I do not know what its cause or effect is.There have been such occurrences in the past; however, I do not recall having witnessed one in my period of existence."

"Oh…okay.So how do we keep it from happening again?"

The only answer Zephyr could provide was a gesture she'd picked up from observing the others.She shrugged.

"Oh, that's great.So, you're telling me that every time Rowen gets hurt, Ry'll get hurt, too?And we don't even know what my stoning thing's all about at all?Wonderful, just fantastic," Kento said sarcastically.He was more than a little stressed out.He was also very worried about Rowen.After all, if what had happened to Ryo was any indication of what Rowen was going through, Strata wasn't having any sort of good time.

"I don't think it'll happen _every_ time.It hasn't happened before," Mia pointed out."Maybe it only happened this time because it was important that we know what was happening to Rowen."

"Good point," said Danji.

"Thank you."Mia blushed slightly.

"Oooo, guys, there going at it, again!" Ryo teased.

"Shut up, Ryo!" Mia threw a pillow and knocked Ryo out of his chair.He shut up and started to get up.He was using the arm of the armchair Cye had set Rip in to support himself and consequently saw her lying in the chair, still unconscious.

"What happened to her?" he demanded."She was fine before you knocked me out to sew me up.What happened?"

Cye answered calmly, "I had an overload with my empathy thing and she soaked it all up to keep it from killing me."

Ryo looked a little angry."Is she okay?"

"She is fine," Zephyr assured him."As the water elemental, her soul dilutes and weakens such things as the empathic data she 'soaked up', or absorbed.Most likely, the use of her power for the first time simply shocked her physical body and brain into coma-state to help her recuperate.No doubt, she will probably awaken within a few hours."

"She'd better."

Mia watched Ryo's reaction over Rip's condition with a small, secret smile, careful not to let the others see her grin.

"I…am…_sooo_…tired," Sage yawned, blinking and starting to lean backwards.

"Wait just a second, Sage," Danji said."You never told us what you meant when you said that Rowen was confusing you."

Sage yawned again and blinked owlishly. Then he seemed to snap awake."Oh yeah.He wasn't exactly talking to me.You know how Cye said Rowen's armor was torn from him?Well, it apparently caused Rowen enough mental anguish that he sorta…uh…snapped."

"Whadda you mean?" Mia asked.

"He snapped.He lost it.It was too much for him.He was screaming mentally and was totally out of it, really messed up.He kept saying something about a spider and purple eyes and blackness and a snake and a dog and an ogre, kinda just babbling.I tried to figure it out but he wasn't himself."

"So, you mean," said Kento, looking really worried, "that even if we get Rowen back, he's going to be crazy?"He hoped the others didn't notice the way his voice trembled.He was really scared for his longtime buddy, now.

"I don't know," Sage admitted, yawning again.He was couldn't stay awake much longer, as much as he wanted to.

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Zee's grim face.When she'd been attempting to channel through him to reach Rowen, he'd been very aware of her inner feelings of desperation and slight panic.He glanced at her, quickly taking stock of the look in her eyes, careful not to actually meet them.From what he saw, he could tell she was very tired and worried for her soul-brother, but there was also a glint of silent fury and, almost invisible to any one, he was aware of a hint of fear.

Slowly, cautiously, he slid his hand across the cushion of the love seat and grasped her own slender hand in his.He wasn't surprised that she didn't seem startled; he knew she was extremely intuitive and hard to surprise.It did surprise him when she squeezed his hand.He hadn't really expected her to react at all, and that action indicated that he was accurate in his analysis of the emotions in her eyes.Zephyr needed reassurance right now and he'd offered it in a subtle manner that allowed support without any one else being the wiser.

Sage's eyelids were becoming weighted down beneath the press of sleep and he couldn't help but yawn yet again.To his surprise, Zee yawned in perfect synchronization with his own yawn.Everyone looked at them.

"You two tired?" Mia asked with a grin.

"No," both replied.Another pair of yawns belied their statement.

"Yeah, uh-huh.Sure," Mia said sarcastically.She crossed her arms and gave the two her best I'm-in-charge, stern look."Go to bed.Zee, you can use my bed.You need to get some more sleep."

"That will not be necessary, Mia.I do not require rest at present."

"The same goes for me, Mia," Sage added.

Mia put one hand on her hip and pointed the other in the direction of the bedrooms."Go to bed.Now," she ordered, adding quickly, "No buts."

Sage scowled and headed for his and Danji's room, muttering under his breath about overly motherly, bossy women.Kento was going to carry Zephyr but Dice beat him to it."You should stay and talk some more," she said and headed for her and Mia's room with Zephyr in her arms, the wind elemental still protesting.

Before a conversation could begin though, Danji quickly called everyone's attention to the television."We should check the news for any mention of our little adventures yesterday," he explained, using the remote to turn on the TV and locate a news program.

At first, there was nothing but the usual reports over upcoming or past events, public announcements, and weather updates.Then the anchorman turned to the camera and said, "And now we'll check in with Shoda Kurosawa reporting from the Hogo Heart Hospital.Kurosawa, I understand that the crowds have grown in the past hour."

Everyone sat on the edge of their seats, their attention fixed on the TV set.The camera provided an overhead view of the hospital, shot from a helicopter, showing the large crowd outside and the police keeping curious people away from the entrances.Then, it switched to inside the building, training on a young man who was apparently the reporter.

_"Yes, Mori, since the incident yesterday around noon many people have come here either in curiosity or concern for patients they know staying here," the reporter said."Despite the efforts of police and security officials, very little has been discovered involving the incident._

_"Here's some footage we just obtained from security officials from the security cameras of Hogo Heart Hospital."_

A black-and-white video began showing on the screen, viewing a hallway close to a side entrance and a desk.Abruptly, one of the glass doors slammed open and a familiar figure bolted through it and past the desk.

_"As you can see, an adult male, Siberian tiger entered the building and ran down the corridor at a speed which we've been told is slightly faster than the species is normally capable of.Notice that the tiger didn't seem to have any concern or interest in the people present but appeared to have a specific objective."_

White Blaze was out of the camera's range and the video switched to another camera's view.

_"The tiger then burst through the door of a room used for check-ups.If you look closely," _the reporter said and the image magnified, _"you can see that the animal had something in his mouth.From the look of it, we believe it may have been a bottle, probably a medication of some sort."_

The anchorman asked, "Kurosawa, was there any one in the room when the tiger entered?"

The black-and-white video stopped and the reporter's face was being shown again._"Well, Mori, we've managed to find out that the particular room the tiger entered was being used.From what we've learned, we know that the room was in a destructive state before the tiger showed up.Though the reasons for the state of the room are currently unknown, we have a picture taken by a nurse."_

The image of the room after Rowen's whirlwind showed on the screen.__

_"The doctors in attendance in this room were: Dr. Sona Luanne, Dr. Kajtim Danji, and Dr. Bonan Marv.Nurse Esaki Michiko was also in the room but has been unavailable for questioning, along with Drs. Bonan and Sona.Though their names are known, we are not able to release the identities of the patient and friends in the room at this moment."_

"Where are those people, now?" the anchorman inquired.__

_"They, along with Dr. Kajtim and the tiger,"_ the reporter answered,_ "have simply vanished.Police have refused to comment on where the tiger came from, though it is believed that a citizen most likely kept it as a pet and it escaped.Searching for the missing patient, Kajtim, and the friends of the patient has been going on since the incident but has turned up nothing.One nurse and another station's reporter were taken to the police station for private discussions and have been unavailable for comment.They apparently witnessed something concerning the involved parties."_

The anchorman said, "One more question, Kurosawa.Lots of people are concerned for the well being of friends and family staying in the hospital.What can we say to reassure them?"__

_"We have been assured that no one was harmed during the commotion, patients are perfectly safe, and security and safety precautions have been intensified.Security and police have asked that we vacate the premises so that patients are not further disturbed.So, we'll do our best to keep you up to date on any new developments.This has been Shoda Kurosawa reporting from Hogo Heart Hospital, downtown.Back to you, Mori."_

"Thank you, Kurosawa.And we'll check in with Kurosawa later," the anchorman said.He faced the camera and shuffled some papers in his hands."In other news today, there is still little known about the strange noises that came from the Town Central Park or the unidentified debris found spread across the grounds. Officials believe some people may have used the Park for illegal camping and had a campfire, which got out of control.A fairly large area of the Park has been devastated by fire but grounds-keepers hope to restore that area's plant life by next year.Town Central Park officials have closed off the area until further notice.

"And now, an update of weather with—"

Danji switched off the TV."Well, that was..."

"Not used to being on the news, eh, Doc?" Ryo asked.

"No," Danji confessed."But, it's not like you've been hounded by the media before."

"Actually, I have.Remember the incident with a boy and a tiger downtown around three years ago?That was White Blaze and me.If they weren't so dumb, the media and the police might've figured that out by now."

"I guess so."

A groan came from the armchair in which Rip was lying.Everyone looked to her quickly.Ryo and Cye jumped to the side of the chair.The water elemental didn't open her eyes but rolled over and off the chair onto her knees on the floor.She rose and, without ever opening her eyes, staggered across the room towards the kitchen."I nee' s'm asp'in," she mumbled.

Ryo looked at Cye."I'll go help her," he said.Casting a glance at the swinging kitchen door, he added, "And make sure she doesn't walk into a wall."He followed after Cye's elemental sister.

Everyone smiled and the room slowly fell into silence.Barely a minute had passed when a phone rang, startling the quiet group.

"I got it!" Rip yelled.She burst in the room and made a beeline for the phone on the coffee table."Hello?" she answered it in English.

"Hi, Marina. How are you, dear?" the voice on the other end asked in her native language.

Rip quickly switched to Hawaiian."For the last time, Ma, please don't call me that.I prefer Rip.And I am _not_ a dear.And I'm fine.How 'bout you?How're Pop and Tar?"

"Oh, we're doing okay. Your father seems to have realized how bad off he and Tar are without you when someone needs help with the surfing equipment. Tar just wants you to come home in time for the competition. I think he actually misses you, too."

"That'd be a first.How's Ikaika doin'?"

"Much better. His mother allowed him to go down to the beach yesterday but he can't surf just yet. That cut on his face did scar, unfortunately."

Rip growled at this comment."If I _ever_ see that mainlander, _ever_ again—"

"Marina, sweetheart, I'm sure that the tourist is very sorry for causing that accident and it _was_ merely an accident. Besides, you probably won't see him again for the rest of your life," her mother reasoned.

"Yeah, yeah.Tell Ik hi for me then.And tell Keiki thanks for the Japanese lessons; they're comin' in real handy.Uh, can I talk to Pop?"

"Sure, Hon, let me go get him. Love you! Bye!"Rip could hear the sound of the phone being set down and then muffled shouting.The phone was picked up again quickly.

"Hey, there, kid! How do you like Japan?" her father's familiar voice asked in Spanish.

"I'm cool," she replied in the same language."Heard you and Tar're havin' trouble in the shop."

"Nonsense! We're doing fine. Your mother doesn't know what she's talking about," he insisted."Is the hotel okay? Did you have any problems with the manager? Does the room suit you?"

"Everything's fine. I like it here. Uh, Pop, I—"

"I told you you'd like Japan! It's great isn't it? Have you had a chance to see the sights? And you didn't wanna go to Japan!"

"Pop, _CHILL_!!!"

"Sorry, Rip."

"S'okay.I still think you shoulda lemme go straight to Australia.I'm really worried 'bout Roar."

"I'm sure she's fine, babe. Any friend of yours has gotta be tough," he laughed.

"Shut up, Pop.You don't understand.Roar's got a rough life.She's got five younger siblings to care of all by herself, she lives in a shack, sleeps on a dirt floor, and works three jobs, all of which are in dirty taverns full of drunken bums.She always manages to find time to email me from the library every day and I haven't heard from her in three weeks.

"Last I heard from her, she said two of her sibs were sick and the way she wrote that letter wasn't like her.I'm real worried, Pop, and I wanna go make sure she's okay.Not take care of international business for you!You coulda done it yourself, or had Tar go!"

"Uh, didn't know you felt that way, Rip…I guess I could arrange for you to go on to Australia and send Tar in your place. What time do you want me to book your flight for?"

"No, wait!I can't leave yet!"

"Whadda you mean, babe? Is something wrong?"

Rip glanced around the room at the bewildered faces of her guests."Uh, Pop, could ya hold for a sec?And switch to, uh, Japanese?"

"Why?"

"Just do it.I'll explain in a sec. 'Kay?"

"Oh, alright."

Rip hit the intercom button and set the phone in its cradle.Speaking in Japanese, she said, "Okay, Pop, I've got somethin' to tell ya, and I don't want you to say anything until I say you can.Capish?"

"Caposh, kid. Try me."

"Alright.I kinda went surfing.I know ya told me not to, but the waves were just totally awesome yesterday and I couldn't help it.Besides, my life does _not_ revolve 'round takin' care of _business_.Anyway, I was at the beach and some rookie tried to run a pipe and he wiped me.He busted up my shoulder real bad—but it's fine now—so I hitched a ride to the hospital and while I was there I sorta met these people.One of 'em…I dunno.He's kinda familiar somehow and, well…I wanna stay with him.Don't say anything!I don't mean as in boyfriend.I mean as in a…um…brother."

"So?"

"Sooo…uh, Cye, c'mere.Say 'hi'."She shoved her soul-brother to the phone.

"Umm…hello, Mr. Kahanamoku.I'm Cye Mouri.I, uh, I'm sorry for any inconvenience we may have caused you."

"We? There's more than one of you there? Rip, how many people are in there?"

"Lessee.One, two, three, ummmm…countin' Cye and me, nine."

"Nine?! How long've they been there?!" Rip's father shouted.

"Since yesterday evenin'.Why?If you're worried 'bout the money, I threatened the maître d'.No worries."

"Who are they?"

"Cye's friends.They needed a place to stay and I kinda volunteered."

"Okay, but _who_ are they? What're their names?"

"Uh, guys, tell him who ya are."

The group gathered about the phone. Mia started it off."Hello, sir.Thanks for allowing us to stay here.We've been having trouble and we couldn't go home.I'm Mia Koji."

"Trouble? Rip!" roared Mr. Kahanamoku.

"Keep going, guys," his daughter whispered."Ignore him."

Danji nodded and said, "Hi, sir.You're daughter's really kind and helpful.I'm Dr. Danji Kajtim."

"I'm Ryo Sanada," Ryo said."I hate to say that I'm sorta the cause of the 'trouble' and I apologize for it."

"Rip! Who's that boy? What does he mean 'he's the cause of the trouble'?"

"Hi, Mr. Kahanamoku!I'm Kento Rei Fuan and currently believe Rip is one of the greatest people on Earth!" Kento told the man enthusiastically.

"Rip!"

Dice was hanging back, shyly.Rip got a grip on her arm and yanked her up to the phone."Pop, this is Dice.She's a very shy, sweet girl and you shouldn't yell cuz you're spookin' her and she's a friend.Shut up!"

Silence.

" 'Kay, Dice.Say 'hi'."

"Umm…hello, sir," said Dice in a very quiet voice."I'm really very sorry for all this.Rip has been very nice to us and we appreciate it to no end.I'm Gaea Salem, but please call me Dice.I'm really, _very_ sorry."

"Uh, that's okay, um, Dice. I'm sorry for yelling before. Now, dear, I think you should move away from the phone for a moment. 'Kay?"

After Dice had slid all the way across the room, silence reigned for a few seconds.Then, it was demolished.

_"RIIIIIP!!!"_

Rip just rolled her eyes and said, "What?"

"Why didn't you call me last night and just tell me you were gonna need extra money? Oh, and tell that nice young lady 'sorry' for me."

Rip rolled her eyes again and repeated her father's apology for Dice."Anything else?" she asked.

"Yeah, why don't ya just take 'em with ya to Australia?"

Rip looked at the phone suspiciously."Who are you and what've you done with my father?" she asked with sarcasm.

"Nothin'," the man laughed.Apparently, this was an inside joke."Now, when do ya want me to book the flight for? Oh, and ya said there were nine of ya. Who're the other two?"

"Well, there's a guy named Sage Date and a girl called Zephyr."

"Zephyr who?"

"Just Zephyr."

"Oookay. I've got the names written down. Now, explain the trouble."

"Oh, that reminds me.We're gonna need to take a large, exotic animal with us."

"…Huh?"

"Well, Ryo's got this pet.Its name is White Blaze.When they were at the hospital, Blaze kinda came lookin' for Ryo and upset people by accident.So, now the media's lookin' all over the place for them without mercy and you know how that is."

"Oh, yeah. Do I ever! Every time we go to a competition with you. So what kinda animal is this?"

"An adult male Siberian tiger."

"A tiger."

"Uh-huh.He's real sweet and, Pop, he is the coolest, most beautiful animal I've ever seen, 'sides Sue."

"Alright. Boy, am I gonna have a time settin' this one up!"

" 'Kay, is that everything?"

"No."

"What else, then?" she asked exasperatedly.

"You haven't told me what time ya want the flight for!"

Rip rolled her eyes, picked up the phone, punched the intercom button off again and left the room with the phone to her ear, discussing the times available in Spanish.

Five minutes later, she rejoined the others in the den, setting the phone in its cradle." 'Kay, guys.We're goin' to Australia!Oh, yeah.And Pop's fixed it so you can go home and get some stuff but you won't be able to stay there long."

Kento looked at her with a grin, glanced around at the suite, and said, "Hey, Rip?"

"Yeah?"

"You're rich, right?"

"How'd you ever guess?" she said with disgust."I don't like the wealth.My family and I live like everyone else back home.Small house, one car, and we don't get snobby."

"I understand."

"How could you?"

"My family's really rich, too."

"Oh."

"So," Kento looked at everyone."Let's go!I'm goin' to Austral~ia, goin' to Austral~ia, goin' to Austral~ia! Hey, hey, hey!"

Two words became a universal thought in the room.

_"SHUT UP!!!"_


	6. What Do You See?

I don't own RW or any of that (woe is me) but as you know, new characters belong to me, of course! You also know that if permission is asked, it's probable that I'll allow you to use my characters.   
  
Caution: do not approach this story unless you are heavily armed and only under the supervision of a combat-ready army! You have been warned.   
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Soft humming could be heard in the depths of the dark. He could see the faint silhouettes of five figures gathered around a bed and a sixth lay beneath the raggedy sheet and blanket that furnished the worn mattress. He stepped forward, wishing to be able to see the six forms better. But the darkness only hid their features further and somehow he couldn't seem to get any closer.

Listening to the soft humming, he realized the sweet sound originated from the figure lying on the bed. He was aware that the other five were crying and he had a fairly good idea of why. Still, despite his efforts against it, the dark would not permit him to confirm his suspicions or satisfy his curiosity.

A current of undeniably strong energy eddied forth from the figure on the bed. It was full of joy, pride, love of life and other things he couldn't identify, determination, and a rather dominant sense of happiness and childish giddiness. The energy current was so strong and radiant that it began to overwhelm him.

Then, a bright, blinding flash of white light stole the scene from his eyes and swept him away from the sight he'd been witness to. He pushed against the light, attempting to regain his vision, but the light pushed him back and away.

"No. I have to see who they are," he shouted to the light. "Let me see them. Stop! Let me go back! No! Let me see them!"

But the light just kept pushing him away.

* * * * *

"Sshhh," a melodic, gentle voice whispered in his ear, freeing him from the light. "Awaken, Korin. Do not fear the light; it is only a dream."

Sage opened his eyes and looked to the side. He was sitting upright in bed, hands clenching the sweat dampened bed sheets in tight fists. Zephyr's starlit, gentle silver eyes met his own wide and dilated grey-violet ones but instead of imprisoning him in their enchantment for once, they conveyed a feeling of calm and peace, pushing away the last effects of his dream. Slowly, he began to become conscious of his surroundings and realized what it was she had said.

"What? The light? How did you know?" he questioned.

Her eyes broke the gaze and closed as she turned her face from him. She moved away, her toga sweeping about her ankles and making soothing rustling noises like a breeze through trees. Her gentle silver hair swayed and a soft, warm breeze wisped about the room. She walked to a big bay window, standing straight as she looked out upon the night.

Seeing that she wasn't answering the question, Sage asked again, "Zee, how'd you know about the light? How'd you know what I was dreaming?"

She sighed, her back still turned to him, and suddenly leaned heavily against the sill of the window, bowing her head low. Her hair fell forward and danced before her face in a concealing manner. Sage blinked, thinking he was imagining things. For a moment, he thought he'd seen a teardrop fall to the floor, the starlight reflecting off its surface. But there it was again, and again. Zephyr was crying.

He swung his legs off the bed and walked slowly, quietly across the thickly carpeted floor until he was standing a mere three feet behind her. "What's wrong, Zee?" he asked. "What is it?"

She remained silent, silver-like tears still falling unchecked to the floor beneath her feet. A strand of her hair danced out and stroked his arm, as if encouraging him. Her silence spoke of pain and grief and he was compelled to help her. If Cye had been there, his empathy would've been overwhelmed.

Sage tentatively reached out and ever so gently wrapped his arms around Zephyr's waist. When she remained unresponsive, Sage pulled her back to him and hugged her. "You can tell me. I'm here for you. You can tell me anything." He bowed his head and rested his cheek on hers. Her tears slid down his skin, and he had the impression of a soft breeze caressing his face. "You don't have to be alone. You can tell me."

"Dream," she said finally. That one word split the silence into a thousand shards of surprise in Sage's mind. He pulled away just a little so she could speak without him feeling the movement of her jaw.

"What?"

She was still crying silently. She stared out at the starry night sky, her eyes reflecting the pinprick-like light of the stars studding the velvety blackness. "Dream," she repeated. "When I told you that I believed each of you had mystical abilities without your armor, I did not mention what Rowen's was."

"So?"

"Rowen has the power of dream."

Sage thought that over for a moment. "Which means?"

"For a starters, he may occasionally dream of the future. He may also manipulate reality slightly through a dream. His dreams may give answers to problems and questions that would otherwise not be answered. There are countless other potentials capable of the power of dream."

"Wait. What does Rowen's power have to do with how you knew about my dream?"

"Through what is left of my bond to him, I witnessed one of his dreams. You saw it through the bond I established with you in the past. The dream only allowed you to see it because it has some connection to you in all likelihood."

"So Rowen's dreams can see and change the future and give us answers to problems. Sounds like a pretty powerful ability."

"Not really. You see, the power of dream is one that is somewhat 'wild'. It has a will of its own--"

"Like with the death dream."

"In a way, yes, except that if the keeper of the dreams is properly trained, they may be able to control them with time," Zephyr explained. "However, it is rare that the dreams keep any but one of their capabilities once they are 'tamed'. The keeper must choose one facet of the power and that will most likely be the only one left after the taming. Though, if the keeper allows the dreams to remain wild, they will keep all their powers. Yet, in that case, the dreams would only come to the keeper of their own accord."

"Are Rowen's dreams still 'wild'?"

"Yes."

"So what kind was the one we just saw?"

"A Prediction."

"Then what was it predicting?"

"I do not know."

"Oh well. We'll figure it out." He rested his cheek on hers again. The two of them stood there together for a long time, simply looking at the majesty of the night. It was late enough that most of the city lights has been extinguished for the night, allowing a few of the brighter stars to show their faces and beam down on the earth. Time ceased to have meaning and there was only the night.

"I wish Hypnos were here," Zephyr said abruptly in a barely audible voice, startling Sage.

"Hypnos?" he asked, pulling away to get a good look at her.

She turned her eyes on him, still crying silently. "An old friend of mine from ages and ages ago. In many ways, he was the god of sleep. I wish he were here so that he could put me to sleep. He could give me a dreamless restful slumber."

"Are you tired?"

"No. I simply do not like being awake right now. Consciousness means thought and pain."

Her last word reminded him of something. "Zee, your legs!" She grimaced at his exclamation. "How'd you walk in here? Dice had to carry you to bed."

"You would have kept dreaming if I had not. Your need to awaken was greater than mine to 'stay off my feet,' as many of you say."

"Zee--"

"I am quite alright."

"Let me see," he said in the same voice he often used with his younger sister, Satsuki, when persuading her.

"Fine." She lifted the skirt of her toga up to her knees and looked away. He winced at the sight, forcing himself to keep looking so he could examine them.

"I could heal you a little," he offered, "but not much. Ryo's Flare is a little too strong for a complete heal."

"I would appreciate it."

"Okay, here goes." Sage set his right hand against her left shin, grimacing at the feel of her feverish skin, and called on Halo to help him. A few minutes later he sighed and stood. "That's the best I can do. Feel any better?"

"A little," she said and dropped her skirt. "Thank you."

He watched her face. "Zee?"

"Yes?" She was wiping her eyes and face, her hair dancing up to assist, stroking her face.

"Are you lonely?"

She paused, hand in mid-rise, her hair still wiping away tear-tracks. "…Y-yes."

Sage didn't say anything but just pulled her to him. She was unresponsive for a moment. Then, she wrapped her arms around his waist, clutching the back of his shirt, and buried her face in his chest. She wept freely, but still quietly, allowing herself only to make occasional sounds.

"I am so alone. I have been alone for so long. I am the only one of my kind left. There used to be so many of us. But people just stopped believing and we died out. I watched my best friends die. I saw Ares fall from his chariot, Hera shrivel away, Aphrodite fade. Even mighty Athene was lost in the end. When she died, Zeus knew it was over and stopped fighting death. I am the only one. The only one. I am all alone."

"Sshh. It's okay," he soothed. "You wanna tell me 'bout it?"

"I-I…I do not know if I can. I have not told any one before."

He was pulling her slowly back towards the bed. He sat her down on it and kneeled on the floor before her. He reached up and wiped away the fresh tears, her silver hair dancing about to help. "How do you do that?"

"How do I do what?"

"Your hair. How can it move like that?"

"It always has. It is part of the way I am. I do not control it."

"Okay. You wanna tell me now?"

"I…I…"

"You don't have to," he told her.

"I want to," she said. "I simply need a place to begin. I can not start at the beginning for there is not one."

"That's okay."

"People believed the gods into existence," she began. "The gods relied on their belief to survive. People believed in a god of the west wind whom they called Zephyrus. But I had existed before that. I was the wind and I was not a god or a goddess. I am a spirit or something along those lines.

"There were hundreds of gods, goddesses, spirits, nymphs, and such. My best friends were the four seasons. Spring was the optimist of the group, always believing things would get better when they were at their worst, just like the way her season promised new life in the face of the winter's death. I remember how she was always interested in the old mystics.

"As for Winter, she was always logical and she was certainly the most beautiful of the four in spirit. She could seem harsh and cold at times but she had an inner beauty that Aphrodite's physical beauty only barely surpassed.

"Summer was always the one to bring fun to the scene. She could come up games in the blink of an eye. She was a little naïve but she certainly made up for it by dispelling boredom for the gods. Summer was at the level of the Muses when it came to entertainment.

"When it came to looks, Autumn was the beautiful one. Aphrodite did not like her much because of that. Autumn was always so colorful in so many ways. She could sing in such a way you could not look away or stop listening until she ceased. She was going to teach me to sing but never had the chance. She was very agile and lithe, and she could dance like the wind itself--"

"Can you dance?"

"Of course. Please do not interrupt."

"Okay."

"Now, Autumn was the quiet one. She offered comfort to anyone who sought it from her without hesitation. Before the end came, she was going to wed Eros. He was quite stricken with her and she truly loved him. Eros saw many things in Autumn the rest of us never did. She was the keeper of my secrets.

"When the end came, no one was prepared for it. It started without warning. People simply ceased to believe in the gods and nymphs and spirits of the land. Iris came back one night, after delivering a message for Zeus, in awful shape. She collapsed in the middle of the Hall of the Gods and despite everything our healers did for her, she died by the next morning. Before she died, she told the healer in her chambers that the people were not believing any more.

"Athene figured out that the loss of belief in higher powers had killed Iris and she told Zeus. There was nothing he could do. By the end of the day, seven of the lesser gods and attendants had died.

"The next day, Autumn fell ill. She asked Winter to kill her so that she could be spared the pain. Winter refused but after an hour, Autumn was in so much agony that Winter complied and ended her suffering. Eros used one of his arrows, untipped in the desire of love, to kill himself and he lay down with Autumn in death. Aphrodite went into shock when she discovered her son had killed himself and became unresponsive to anything.

"That same day, over two hundred spirits of the land died. They didn't suffer though, for as soon as they showed symptoms of death, they came to an appointed place. There, Artemis and Apollo would give them the mercy of instant death by shooting them down with their arrows.

"Winter hated herself for having to give death to Autumn and she killed herself by means unknown to us. Knowing Winter, she most likely simply lost her will to live and let that kill her. Even Spring lost hope rather quickly and died with the passing of her hope. Poor Summer could not bear the solemnity and grief anymore after that and she killed herself by absorbing the harsh cold Winter created even in death. The four of them all vanished, along with Eros, his hand still holding Autumn's.

"After a week, all the land spirits, nymphs, and attendants were dead. Then, Ares was out in his chariot when he simply fell from the sky. He disappeared with no more than a flicker of flame. Apollo and Artemis came stumbling back to the Hall and they lasted only an hour before they vanished also. They died at the exact same moment, holding each other's hands. When the three of them died, it told us that not even the higher gods were safe from the end.

"Two weeks after that, Aphrodite, still in a state of shock, was sitting at the banquet table when she simply faded away before the eyes of everyone. That same evening Hera was at a window when she just dropped and shriveled up. She died and vanished quickly but with much pain. Soon after, there was only a handful of gods left. They died one by one, until only Athene, Zeus, and I were left.

"I am wise, but Athene was far wiser. She was the very essence of wisdom itself. She comforted her father in those moments towards the end of the end. In private, she told me that she knew this was indeed the end of the gods. She said that she believed I had survived so long only because Fate and Destiny had a purpose in mind for me. Athene believed that there was always a reason for everything.

"She gave me her blessing and told me to remain hidden while she returned to her father. When I asked why, she informed me that she knew she was about to end and wanted Zeus to see it. She said that once he had been told there were no others and he saw that even his favorite child had been defeated by the end, he would allow himself to end also. She did not wish for him to keep fighting, for she knew he was suffering.

"So I complied, and I watched her return to her father, Zeus, and tell him I had died. Then she knelt before him and placed her head on his knees. She told Zeus that she loved him and said, 'this is the end of the gods, Father. Do not fight it any longer. I will be waiting for you in soul when you cross over to join us.' And then she went limp and vanished. Zeus wept over the place where Athene had just been and I could tell he had given up, just as his daughter had said he would. A mere second after she had been lost to the end, her father disappeared with a final bolt of lightning.

"That lightning bolt destroyed Mount Olympus, the Hall, and every trace of the gods in a moment of white light. The next thing I knew, I was somewhere over the Pacific Ocean, carried by my wind. Since then, I have simply been the wind. I gave up this form," Zephyr gestured at her body, "to become no more than the element I am. Then, Rowen accidentally called on me and I found a purpose in life again. That was the night I bonded with you."

She paused and raised her hands to stare at them as if there were something wrong with them. "Without Rowen, I am alone again. I cannot bear to be alone anymore. If I could change, I would degenerate back into my purest, true form in a moment. I do not know why I even thought I wanted to live again anyway."

She'd started to cry again and before he knew what he was doing, Sage stood and bent down, kissing her eyelids. "Don't cry anymore, Zee. You _aren't_ alone and Rowen _will_ be back." He got to his knees again and took the wind elemental's hands in his own. "I made a promise once to Rowen. He doesn't remember it but what I promised, in my exact words, was this: It's gonna be okay. I promise _you_ that now."

Zephyr shook her head and said, "No. I appreciate your promise, but it will not be okay. Nothing will ever be o--"

Sage had wanted to stop her and hopefully convince her of his promise. The only way left had been something very unexpected. He kissed her. He could tell she was surprised but that was all right. When he pulled away, she just stared.

"Y-y-you…you k-k-k…you _kissed_ me!" she exclaimed.

"Yes, I did. What's so surprising about that?" he asked jokingly.

"N-no one has ever d-done that b-before!"

"Well! Now, _that's_ a surprise. You're so beautiful, I'm surprised that you haven't been kissed millions of times!" he said.

She just stared at him. "I-I--"

"Really, Zee. I never thought I'd see you at a loss for words. Maybe I can help." He kissed her again.

This time, when he pulled away, she looked him in the eye and whispered, "Thank you." Then, she closed her eyes and fell asleep sitting up.

"Zee? You awake?" He gave her a gentle shake. When she didn't respond, he laughed and picked her up. He carried her back to Mia and Dice's room and put her in Mia's empty bed. Dice was sleeping soundly in the other bed. There was a little clock on the dresser between the two beds and a quick look at it told him that it was 3 a.m. He and Zephyr had been sleeping since around five in the afternoon. They must have been _really_ tired.

Now that he thought about it, he was still tired. He returned to his and Danji's room. On the way, he remembered that he hadn't seen the doctor in the room when Zephyr had woken him up. He ducked his head in the door to the den. _Ohhh. Duh, Sage. I should've known._

When Mia had given up her bed for Zee, she'd taken one of the sofas and was now sleeping there. Danji had apparently come to the den at some hour of the night and was now sitting on the arm of the sofa at Mia's head, running his fingers through her hair, and looking down at her with a smile. Mia sighed in her sleep and turned over on her side. Danji pulled the blanket Mia had gotten from somewhere up to her chin and kissed her cheek. Then, he stood and headed towards the door Sage was peeking through.

Sage ducked back into the hall and ran swiftly back to his room. He dived in his bed, yanked the sheets and blankets up over his head, and feigned sleep, feeling very childish, embarrassed because of that, and yet finding it oddly exhilarating. He barely made it before Danji came in and tucked himself into his own bed. Sage waited a good ten minutes before he dared to move again. When he did, he looked over at the sleeping doctor with a smirk before settling back to sleep himself. It was only as he was drifting out of reality that he wondered where that earlier feeling of childishness had come from.

* * * * *

If a maid from room service had come in the Royal Suite that morning, she would've stared in stunned silence for a moment and then gotten out of there as fast as possible.

The scene in Rip's 'Sweet' Suite was the very essence of chaos. In the short time they'd been there, the four Ronins, three elementals, one doctor, one young woman who was the so-called 'responsible adult', and one large Siberian white tiger, had turned the suite into ground zero of some _un_natural disaster. Of course, thanks to Rip's orders, no room service was allowed to visit the Royal Suite.

Everyone, even White Blaze, was rushing about in a frenzy, looking for lost shoes, socks, shirts and other such articles. Only Zephyr wasn't participating in the commotion, for two reasons. One, she didn't have any possessions to have lost in the first place. And two, she was showing no signs of waking up any time soon.

At some point in the morning, Dice had carried the wind elemental into the den and placed her in the love seat that seemed to have been christened by the others as 'Zee's spot.' It didn't matter how much yelling and hubbub went on around her, Zephyr would _not_ wake up.

But that didn't matter in the confusion of that morning. Rip's father had arranged for a so-called 'minor' distraction to take place near Hogo Heart Hospital, where the media was still gathered in hopes of a big story break involving the tiger and missing people.

A group of actors had been hired to claim that the people and tiger had been staying with them and had just boarded a plan to the U.S.; and from what little of the morning news reports the people in Rip's suite had seen, the distraction was going extremely well. To the point, in fact, that that one particularly nosy reporter who'd forced them to flee from the upstairs office at the hospital, Borum, had taken the first available flight for the U.S. to chase them down.

Rip's father had also hired a rather extremely expensive private flying agency to take his daughter and company, exotic animal included, south to Brisbane, Australia. The agency was instructed to take all security precautions and to keep the entire transaction under wraps.

Several rental cars had been signed for under Rip's father's name for up to two months, in both Japan and Australia. This was also done in secret and was to be kept out of sight, too.

While the media was distracted, the group was going to make some quick stops at their homes in order to explain things to their families and get anything they wanted or needed to bring along. Several times, one of the group would take the liberty to express their gratitude to Rip, until she finally told them all-rather loudly-not to thank her any more. Attention of that sort had always bothered her.

Cye was still searching for his jacket. The light blue suede jacket hadn't turned up and he couldn't seem to find it anywhere.

"Sage, are you sure you didn't put it somewhere?"

"I already told you…_NO!_ I took it off Zee and set it on the coat rack by the door. If it's not there, it's not my fault."

"Oh, alright. Thanks anyway." Cye checked by the door again, found nothing, and went in search of someone else to interrogate. "Hey, Kento!"

"What?"

"Have you seen my ja--"

Kento interrupted him. "Nope. Sorry, bud. You're on your own."

"Fine. Thanks for nothing," Cye said good-naturedly and stuck his tongue out at his friend. Then he turned to chase down a figure in an old, beat up, red-sweater that was running for a bedroom door and hopping up and down to pull on a shoe at the same time. "Hey, Ryo! Have you seen my jacket?"

Mia, Dice, Sage, and Danji were all in the dining room, eating breakfast. They'd only had to go through their usual morning rituals in order to be ready. It seemed they had been the only ones with the presence of mind to prepare the day before. Dice was sipping her coffee quietly on one side of the table, Sage was doing the same at the end closest to the door into the den, and Mia and Danji were sitting side by side on the side opposite Dice, holding hands under the table as they munched on some waffles.

Dice stopped sipping her coffee. She set the cup down on the polished rich wood of the table and leaned back and slumped in her chair. She absently stirred the coffee with a spoon in one hand and fingered her orange lock of hair in the other, twisting, pulling, and running her fingers through it.

Mia got up and carried her dishes through the door leading into the kitchen, finished with her breakfast and unaware of Dice's actions. Danji picked up his own breakfast dishes and followed Mia; also unaware of the way his best friend was acting.

Sage watched the two go, smirking as he thought of what the couple was doing alone in the kitchen. He took another long draw of his coffee, relishing the morning ritual that had become automatic. Since he'd been old enough to drink it, his father had insisted on he and Sage drinking it together every morning. His father was American and drinking coffee in the morning was practically an American tradition. Mr. Date had wanted to leave at least some of his western heritage imprinted in his son.

Then, Sage finally took notice of the other person in the room. He took a good long look at Dice. She was staring listlessly at nothing, her hands moving without her. Sage decided to bring her out of her trance.

"Yo, Dice! Care to join us back in the land of the living?" he called to her.

Dice jumped and yelped. Her coffee cup tipped, prompting another jump and yelp. "Oh, Lord," she moaned at the mess. She headed in a hurry towards the kitchen. Sage got over his initial surprise at her reaction to his waking call quickly and leapt between Dice and the door.

"Sorry, can't let you go in there," he explained.

"Why? I need to get something to clean up this mess."

"Because. We don't want to interrupt."

"Interrupt what?" Dice asked. She was still speaking in her usual soft, almost-too-quiet, shy voice but she was getting slightly impatient.

"The, uh…oh, here," he gave up and opened the kitchen door just a crack. "Take a look."

Dice peeked into the kitchen and turned back to him. She was about to say something but then her eyes got real big and she looked back through the crack again. When she finally turned back to Sage again, her eyes were still wide and she opened and closed her mouth several times without getting any sound out.

Finally she said, "My bad."

Sage couldn't help it. He laughed. Dice just stared at him. "It's not funny," she pouted. That made Sage laugh even harder. Finally Dice couldn't help it either. The two of them sat down on the polished wood floor of the dining room and laughed until the kitchen door opened.

Still laughing, the pair on the floor looked up at the two figures looming over them. "What's so funny?" Mia asked.

Dice wiped her eyes and let loose one last giggle before saying, "Um…nothing, Mia. I just spilled my coffee and--Ohhh, _no!_" She jumped to her feet and ran into the kitchen. She found a towel and ran back to the table, where she set to sopping up the rapidly spreading puddle on the fine wood. She was chanting, "No, no, no, no, no! Oh, no, no, no!"

Mia got a towel and helped Dice with the mess. Sage watched the earth elemental carefully before deciding to talk to her later. Danji wanted to speak to him. "Hey, Sage, do you think you could spare a moment?" he asked.

"Sure, Doc." The two of them walked out of the dining room, out of the suite, and down the hall. "_Sooo_…what did you want to talk about?"

"Uh, well, about Mia. Just a few questions I don't want to ask her directly."

"Like?"

"Like, what's her favorite food, her worst enemy, her favorite pastime. Stuff like that."

"Okay. Lessee…Mia's favorite food is some Italian dish called lasagna. Her worst enemy: a girl from her school days named Mai and her older brother Damar. Her favorite pastime: messing with her computer, embarrassing me and the other guys, and she does something up in the attic every day for a couple hours but we have yet to find out what. Does that cover it?"

"I guess…why're Mai and her brother Mia's worst enemies?"

"Mai was popular when Mia was in high school and Mia being partly French-blooded and raised in France and America most of her life, she was an outcast for a long time. One of Mai's all time favorite things to do was pick on Mia and Damar loved to help, though he's a 'half-and-half ' himself. Mia never liked to talk about it but whenever Mai or Damar's name comes up, she gets really, _really_ mad. She even hit _Cye_ once for just saying the name Mai. Ryo has a scar on his left shoulder to show for a trip-up he made last year."

"Oh. I get the point. Let's change the subject, now."

" 'Kay. So, how long've you known Dice?"

"Why? You don't have your eye on her, do you? Cuz if you do--"

"Wow. PBB case, aren't ya?"

"Huh?"

"PBB-Protective Big Brother. Kento's got it bad when it comes to his siblings. Even Cye has it over his older sister. You seem to have PBB for Dice."

"Uh…well, we've known each other for a very long time. We met when she was about five and her family still lived in Japan. We've been best friends ever since.

"Dice's mother is full-blooded Japanese and her father, David Salem, is American but he's lived in Africa since he was five. When Dice was seven her family moved back to her father's home in Africa. Dice has a remarkable talent with children and she always wanted to be a doctor," Danji told Sage.

"When she turned fourteen, her family sent her back to Japan to live with me. She somehow managed to get an early medical degree a month before her sixteenth birthday and got a job at the hospital. Dice sends half her paycheck back to her family in Africa every time payday comes around. We're like family. She's my little sister and I'm the big brother she always wanted. She has four younger siblings, three of which are triplets. Family is very important to Dice."

"She kinda spaced out back there," Sage commented. "You and Mia didn't seem to notice, being so, uh, involved at the time."

"What do you mean by 'she spaced out'?" Danji asked, concerned.

"Well, she was just staring out at nothing with a real blank look. Her hands were doing things without her."

"Like what?"

"She was stirring her coffee with one hand and kind of toying with that one odd lock of hair with her other hand."

"What did her eyes look like?"

"Well, that little squiggle of color kinda got a little bright. The rest of her eye color got a bit brighter, too, now that I think of it."

"Uh, we better go back. _Now_." Danji turned and practically ran back through the corridor in the direction they had come. Sage stared after him with a confused expression before running after the doctor.

* * * * *

"Kayura, wake up!" Cale shouted in the Ancient's ear. "Wake up, wake up, wake up!"

Kayura didn't respond. She was thrashing about on the floor and screaming like someone was gutting her.

"Lemme try." Sekhmet pushed Cale aside. Ducking Kayura's arm, the Warlord pinned her to the floor by her shoulders and put his mouth right next to her ear. He drew in a deep breath and then bellowed, "OHHH, KAY! IF YOU DON'T WAKE UP RIGHT NOW, I'M GONNA LET CALE _KISSSS_ YOU!"

Kayura promptly bolted upright, wide-awake, her hand automatically shooting out to grasp the air where the Ancient's Staff would've been under normal circumstances. When she didn't feel the comforting rod of the Staff under her touch, Kayura seemed to realize where she was. For a moment, she looked about to say something rude to the other two Warlords. Instead, she let out a little scream and leapt for the cell door.

"Hey, Kayura, what's wrong?" Cale asked in a bewildered tone, watching the bearer of the Armor of Cruelty peering through the window bars.

"Uh, I dunno," she replied, absently. "I just had a dream's all." She kept glancing about her in an anxious manner.

"You okay, Kayura?" Sekhmet looked around for the invisible enemy, unconsciously dropping into a defensive stance.

"Yeah, yeah. I'm fine. Shut up," was the distracted answer.

The two men looked at each other with raised eyebrows. "What kind of dream did ya have?" they both asked.

"About Strata…and Dais…and Halo…and someone rather young and ancient…and some other people I couldn't see…but it was just a dream," she told them. "I, uh, I think."

"You _think_? But what was it about?" Cale questioned.

"Umm…well, Strata's armor was gone, Dais was in a helluva bad mood over it, and then Strata had a dream--"

"A dream within a dream!" Sekhmet interrupted.

"Shut up!" the other two shouted at him.

"Okay," he said sulkily. "Ya don't have to shout. Sheesh. Act as if I were annoying you or something."

"Shut up!" Cale repeated but Kayura, who was already in a bad mood, took a more direct approach.

She raised her hand and concentrated. Cale, realizing what she was doing, jumped out and grabbed her wrist but it was too late. A small golden orb of light flew at Sekhmet, crackling with power. From then on, everything happened too fast for second thoughts or doubts. Sekhmet ducked and dived out of the way, and the orb struck the wall. But instead of blowing up the stone mason-work, the power orb made an angry crackling noise and bounced off the glassy black stone.

"Oh, _maaan!_" Cale grabbed Kayura around the waist and threw her to the floor, then dropped down himself. The power orb screamed across the room towards them, growing in power as it went. Cale glanced back at it, noticed it was flying lower and lower, and quickly maneuvered to hunch over Kayura, who was about to get up. In the split second before the orb struck, he thought, _Kayura, you so seriously owe me for this one._

The orb hit and blinding pain seared up his back, stopping only when it crashed into the back of his head. He gritted his teeth and fought not to cry out. Finally, everything stopped and he was only aware of darkness reaching across his vision. He welcomed it, wanting the relief and solace the dark had always offered him. He didn't know that there were two figures bent over him, that one of them was trying to keep him conscious and the other was trying to apologize. He knew only that he was in pain and he surrendered to the dark in hopes of reprieve.

He never heard the words whispered in his ear. "I'm so sorry, Cale. I'm sorry. Please…don't go."

* * * * *

"Well?"

"Sir, the Life Ronin is disarmed. The armor previously in its possession has been stripped. The Life Ronin is now in a state in which we may be rid of it without further ado. What do you wish, sir?"

Lumen was once again in the chamber, standing before the pool of oil-like liquid. His vivid neon purple eyes were carefully downcast, never straying from the leather moccasin-like coverings of his feet, as he reported to a higher power. The voice of his master echoed throughout the room, appearing to come from nowhere. The power in that voice was unmistakable. There were no slithery undertones present in the voice as with Lumen's voice and the voices of some of the guards.

"Well, Lumen. For once, you've managed to nearly complete an entire mission without a hitch. That's progress on your part. Now, I want the Life Ronin brought here so that I may kill it personally. That way, no mistakes can be made."

"Yes, sir. I'll retrieve the Life Ronin, now, with your permission."

"Granted. Dismissed."

"Yes, sir." Lumen left the chamber.

As soon as he was gone, the voice boomed out, "Shoquia, come forth!"

A small figure shrouded in a teal cloak seemingly stepped out of the wall, moving to stand beside the pool. Unlike Lumen, the figure peered directly into the depths of the liquid-or seemed to, for the cowl of the cloak threw the face deep into shadow. "Yes?" a firm, powerful, yet feminine, voice asked. "What now?"

"Tell me what the elemental is doing."

The girl or woman in the teal cloak sighed and shook her head. "We've been over this already. You are becoming obsessive. Your servant is bringing the elemental's link here this very moment. Soon, the link will be inexistent and the elemental will cease to exist. What more is there to know?"

"Just tell me."

"Suit yourself. But after this, I'm leaving. Don't summon me; I'll summon you." 

"…Agreed."

"Good." She seated herself at the foot of the pool. "I'll have to look into the future since you've messed up time so much here. By the way, that's an annoying thing, the time difference." A ring of red-tainted gold came from the folds of the cloak and was left hanging in the air. She began to sing in some lost language and slowly rose off the floor, levitating. When ring and cloaked figure were a fair ten feet or so above the floor, the ring burst into fire.

She stopped singing and began to chant. "Behold the fire, ring of gold. Come see the power, if you're bold," she chanted softly. "Time is its own master, or mistress, at will. Do not misread it or it will be still," the chanting was louder. Finally, her voice came to a crescendo as she chanted, "Come past and come present. Come night and come day. I look for the future. Behold it, I say!"

The ring's flames turned white and her hooded face looked through it, seeing things only she could see. Speaking quietly, she said, "I seek the elemental of wind. I seek the one known to mortals as Zephyr. Show this one to me."

After five minutes of silence, the voice asked, "Well? What do you see?"

"Patience. She is amongst two other elementals, four armor keepers, two average mortals, one of which is a healer, and a tiger. They are preparing to go somewhere, most likely out of the country. She is sleeping at current."

"Which ones are the other two elementals?"

"The one called Marina Kahanamoku, but nicknamed Rip, is the water elemental. Her link is the Trust Ronin. She has lived a mortal life and is not pure as the elemental of wind. The one known as Gaea Salem, called Dice, is the earth elemental. Her link is the Justice Ronin. She too has lived a mortal life and is not as the wind elemental in purity."

"What else?"

The teal cloaked figure shook her head and said, "That is all. No more may be told for now."

"Fine."

With a nod, she reached out a hand covered in teal wrappings and grabbed the ring of fire. At her touch, the fire vanished, and the ring was hidden away within the folds of the cloak. Standing in midair, she sank back to the floor. When her feet, also covered in teal wrappings, touched the stone, she said, "I'm leaving now. Remember, don't summon me. I'll come sooner or later."

"You're being difficult, Shoquia."

She laughed. "Of course, I am. What else do you expect from me? See you some time. In the future, present, past, whatever. Bye!" And with that she walked into the shadows, seeming to melt into them, becoming part of them.

No sooner was she gone than the voice muttered, "I swear, that little, annoying, bothersome--"

"I _heard_ that!" her voice came from everywhere and nowhere, echoing as the sound bounced off the walls. "I wouldn't be talking if I were you!"

"Fine. Now, stop that."

"Alright. So long!" Silence held the room.

* * * * *

"Dice! Mia! Where are you two?"

"Back here, Danj. Why?" Dice called from the dining room. When Sage and Danji entered the room, they found the two girls still mopping up the spilt coffee on the floor and table. Danji didn't answer Dice's question but rushed over and made short work of pulling her from the room.

When they were gone, Mia looked up at Sage from where she knelt on the floor. "Umm, what was that all about?"

"I have no idea."

"Oh. Well, since you're here, why don't you grab a towel and help me out here?" It was more of an order than a request and Sage complied.

Meanwhile, Danji had yanked Dice into the room he'd been sharing with Sage. "What is it?" she asked.

"Sage said you 'spaced out' a while ago."

"Oh. I see."

"When will it be this time?"

"Tomorrow, around four in the afternoon. Did you tell Sage about it?"

"No. _Should_ we tell them?"

"They haven't kept any secrets from us. This isn't much of anything big really, compared to their lives."

"Okay, then. Do you want me to do it?"

"No. I'll do it myself." She looked at him and bit her lip. "Danj, I miss my family. I miss them all so bad. I wish I could talk to Mom or Dad or Sharra even. I want to be with them right now. I'm getting homesick."

"Hey, I'm here for you. I'm your family-away-from-home. If you want, I bet Rip would arrange for you to go home instead of coming with us to Australia. Heck, if you want, I'll go with you. It's all up to you. It's _your_ choice."

"I'm coming…. Oh, Danj, thanks." Then she cried a little on his shoulder, hugging him about the waist. When she stopped, the first thing she said was, "Hey, shouldn't you be off kissing your girlfriend or something?"

"What's the matter, little sister? Jealous?"

"Of course not. I'm very happy for you. You two belong together. I can tell."

Danji noted that she was blushing. _Looks as if she may have a little secret she's keeping from me,_ he thought but knew she'd tell him in her own time. "Well, thank you. So, off we go to tell the secret of Dice Salem, huh?"

"Not just yet, later. Danj?"

"Yeah?"

"Are you always going to be my 'big brother'?"

"Dice, I promise to be your 'big brother' for as long as you want me. Or as long as Kento doesn't replace me," he added with a laugh.

"_No one_ could replace you."

* * * * *

"Honey, I'm home!" she called with a laugh. "Hey, Fey, where are you?"

"Up here, Shoq."

She looked up. "Oh. Get down here! I wanna talk to you."

" 'Kay."

As she watched, Fey walked across the ceiling and down the wall. Wearing a brown cloth skirt with slits up the thighs and matching top, similar in style to a workout top, and being barefoot, she looked like some wild thing from the jungle. Fey's shocking pale lavender hair was cut to her jaw-line, curling inwards. Her left eye was a vivid purple and her right was a startlingly pale, pearly green, almost no color at all. She was long-limbed, skinny, and had dark-tanned skin. Her lips were naturally an icy blue color, as if she was freezing to death, and her ears were pointed at the tips. "So what's up? Whadja make me come down for? And, Shoquia, take off that silly robe thingy."

"Fine," Shoquia said exasperatedly. She shoved back her hood. Shoulder-blade-length, teal-colored hair tumbled out. She was very pale-skinned, and slim but not skinny the way Fey was. Her sharp, bright eyes were the same teal as her hair and her lips were a normal red but she'd used lipstick to paint them teal, too. When she shed her cloak, she was wearing a teal tunic that came down to her knees with sleeves to her elbows and teal sandals. If it weren't for the odd color of her hair, she'd look completely normal, unless you saw her teeth. Her two front canines were long and sharp: fangs. "I went to the sumantra, today."

Fey's eyes got even brighter-if that were possible-and she got excited. "Really? What for? What did ya do? Did you see anything? Hear anything? Did you go to the--"

"Whoa! Hold on! One thing at a time. First of all, I went because that stupid jerk doesn't know _anything_ and it wouldn't bode well if I didn't help him."

"What did he want this time? Was it about the chimera in the stables again? Or was it the centaurs in the gardens? Or maybe the--"

"Fey! Be quiet. I'll tell you only if you shut up. And can we sit down? My head hurts from all that teleportation."

"Sure." Fey ran over to a porch swing suspended from the ceiling and jumped on it. Shoquia rolled her eyes and sat on the swing, too. "Well?" Fey asked impatiently.

"He wanted to know what the elemental of wind was doing. So I told him and left. Fey, I've been wandering…" Shoquia trailed off.

Fey fidgeted and tried to stay quiet. After a minute, she couldn't wait any longer. "Shoq! What've ya been wandering?"

"What if the elementals aren't…you know? What if I'm helping to kill them and they're not what I think? And the wind elemental…I don't know. She just seems familiar somehow."

At this, Fey actually looked considerate and thoughtful. "Shoquia, you know what you saw. I know what you saw. The elementals are…they're…I can't say it. But you're doing the right thing. And if you aren't, we'll fix it. That's all there is to it. And as for one of 'em being familiar, I bet you're just imagining things."

Shoquia looked at her friend. "Fey, sometimes you are the worst humanoid in the universe. But then, sometimes, I don't know what I'd do without you."

Fey grinned from pointy ear to pointy ear. "I know. That's what I'm here for!" She gave the other girl a hug that seemed impossible for someone of her small and slight frame. "C'mon, I wanna go see if I can catch that faerie faster than last time. You can time me."

"Oh, alright." Shoquia stood and followed Fey through a back door. "But this time, would you _please_ try not to scare the wits out of the poor thing?"

* * * * *

"The charm soul is doubting."

"Yes, but the fated one has ceased the doubts."

"For now, anyway."

"Let's not get our hopes up yet. It may be nothing."

"…I wish..."

"Try not to agonize so much."

"How much longer?"

"It will be time soon. Only three have been awakened so far."

"But the other two may become aware soon."

"We will concern ourselves with that when the time comes."

"I suppose so."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 

  
Author's Notes:   
  
1) Shoquia is pronounced SHOCK-UH and when Fey called her Shoq, it's like saying SHOCK. 'Kay?   
2) For as many hits as this story is getting, it certainly is recieving very few reviews. Why is that? The _Theria's_ and _Swiftgold's_ readers have been quite nice, you know. Did I just do something wrong with you guys?   
  
Facts of Life: Wouldn't it be nice if we could forget our troubles as easily as we forget our blessings?   
  
Next chapter: ** Chapter 7--Meet the Parents**


	7. Meet the Parents

**Thanks to Indy Faye, who introduced me to adamas and solved a dilemma I've been puzzling over for weeks.**

*

"Turn left, Doc. 'Kay, now go straight for two blocks and take a right."

"Alright."

Danji was driving a nondescript, dark green van in which all nine people and White Blaze were traveling through Tokyo. Rip was directing Danji to a location where they'd meet a group of five other vans and six drivers. There, they would break up into pairs—Ryo would be traveling with White Blaze—Danji and Mia would go alone—and go to their homes to get things and explain to families. Then, they'd all meet at a private airport, which the drivers had been given directions to get to.

Sage was ignoring the conversations going on around him. He was thinking—something not uncommon in his case—but a matter he took seriously nonetheless. Several things were on his mind, Zee's story of her past for one. Then there was the little event with Dice and Danji. What could be up with Dice that put Danji into that slight panic? Sage wanted some answers. He just had to figure out how to get them.

Finally they reached a small auto shop. Rip told Danji to park in back and everyone piled out. The five other vans, similar to the one the group arrived in, were waiting there. Five men came forward and spoke with Rip. When she returned to the others, she told them to break up into their pairs and pick a van.

Mia got back in the van they'd come in, taking shotgun, while one of the six drivers got behind the wheel. They left immediately, Mia directing the driver towards her home just outside of Tokyo. The other five drivers each took the wheel of a van. Rip and Cye got in one van together, leaving five minutes after Mia's departure, headed for Cye's family homestead overlooking the Hagi Sea. Five minutes after that, Kento and Dice paired up and left for Kento's family restaurant/home in Chinatown, Yokohama. Dice had already told Danji what she needed from the apartment they shared in the heart of Tokyo, and five minutes after she'd left with her soul-brother, Danji's driver started out for the apartment complex. Ryo and White Blaze's driver looked a little uncertain when he saw Blaze but their van departed five minutes after Danji's, headed for Ryo's mountain cabin. Finally, 25 minutes after they'd arrived there, Sage and Zee set off for Sage's family home on the outskirts of Sendai.

* * * * *

Dice followed Kento up to a back entrance to a large two-story Chinese restaurant: the Fuan family's restaurant. The Fuans lived on the second floor and Kento had told her how to get to his room and where most things were so that she could grab some of his stuff for him while he talked to his mother. While the driver waited outside, the two found themselves swept up in the bustle of the kitchen.

Over the din, Kento said to Dice, "You go on up. I gotta find Mama, first. Don't get lost. Don't let anyone push you around. And if anybody asks, Shuu sent ya. 'Kay?"

"Sure. Don't worry," she assured him. "See you in a while, bro." She set to shoving her way—politely—through the crowd towards a staircase.

Kento threw himself in the general direction of a stove at the back his mother used most often. He finally came up behind a busily cooking woman and tapped her on the shoulder.

"What now, Mei Ryu?" she said in rapid Chinese without turning around. "I'm busy and I don't have time for your questions right now. Maybe in a little while. Go back upstairs."

Kento laughed and retorted, "Since when have I been asking questions? And I didn't know I answered to my brother's name."

The woman spun around and wrapped her arms around him. "Shuu! Where've you been? Your father and I have been so worried! We didn't know where you were or anything and the news people have been calling day and night looking for you. All that business at the hospital and everything and…you have a lot of explaining to do."

"I know, Mama. Can we go talk someplace a little less crowded?"

"Of course. Come, let's go upstairs." With that his mother set to shoving her way across the packed kitchen towards the stairs, her son in tow. She led him up to her office and practically pushed him into a chair. Sitting down across from him, she ordered firmly, "Talk."

"Whoa. Hey, Mama, how 'bout being a bit more hospitable. I'm sorry that I didn't call but we were afraid someone would be listening. Uh, about down in the kitchen…has Mei Ryu been bothering you again?"

"Oh, yes. He saw the news report and wanted to know if you were in a trouble. Rinfi's just worried and wondered if it was possible that you needed help. Yun was a bit upset. He thought you were hurt and that's why you were at the hospital. And poor Chun Fa has been bawling her eyes out. She thought you weren't ever coming back."

"Aw, geez. I'll go talk to 'em in a second. What about Grandfather? How's he been taking all this?"

"Well, he seems to think nothing's wrong. He was positive that you were fine and would come back soon. Guess he was right. I swear, sometimes he seems to know something about you that the rest of us don't. Oh, and Uncle Chen has called several times. He seems to think you're in trouble because you've been hanging with the wrong crowd. Of course, I told him that I knew your friends and they're definitely not 'the wrong crowd,' " she said. "Speaking of which, where are they? They were involved in this whole business too. Are they all right? How is Rowen? He didn't get sick again, did he? I hope that's not why you were at the hospital. How's Cye? He's such a sweet young man and I doubt his mother would take it well if anything happened to him."

"Oh, yeah. Thanks to a friend, the others are all going home…for a while anyway. Which brings me to something else. Uh, Mama, I have to go somewhere for a while."

"What do you mean? Where?"

"Mama, I have to go to Australia for a little while. There's some business I need to take care of there and—" 

"Australia!" his mother shrieked. "Why in the name of the gods do you want to go to _Australia_?!" 

"Mama, calm down. See, I've, uh, got this friend—"

She held up her hand, halting him. "Hold it right there," she started angrily. "Shuu Rei Fuan, I've been very patient. But, for the past three years, you've kept something from me. I do _not_ appreciate my eldest son keeping secrets from me. Now, if I don't know everything about my family, how do I maintain order? I think it's time you told me your secret, Shuu. _Now_!"

Kento shifted uneasily in his seat. He knew better than to argue with his mother but this wasn't just any secret. "Umm, Mama, why don't you call Papa in? He's gonna want to hear this, too."

His mother glared at him for a few moments. "Alright. Shuu, you are seventeen years old. I should think that I could trust you to be responsible and honest, especially with your own parents."

"I know, Mama. I'm sorry."

"I know that. You just wait a moment while I get your father." She stood and left the room. He could hear her calling out in the hall, "Chan Run, come here! Shuu's back and we need to talk!"

_Here goes,_ Kento thought to himself. _The secret's finally coming out. I just hope that when I tell them about the armor and everything they don't disown me or something._ Then he spoke aloud to himself, "Kento, you've finally bitten off more than you can chew."…

"Well that went well, didn't it?"

"Uh, yeah. But, I, umm…I'm afraid Ryo'll kill me when he finds out I kinda had to tell them about the armor and the Ronin Warriors and the elementals and everything.

"I'm sure he'll understand. Don't worry."

"So, what did you think of my family?"

"They're very nice people. I felt like they were actually _my_ family. I like them a lot. Your little brothers and sisters remind me of my siblings. I miss them a lot."

"Hey, why don't ya tell me 'bout 'em? We've got plenty of time. Right, Mizuno?"

"Yes, sir," the driver replied curtly. Listening to his passengers talking as he drove them to the private airport, he thought, _I better be getting paid really well for this. These people can't be completely sane._

* * * * *

When the driver pulled up to Ryo's cabin, the boy and tiger jumped out and it only took Ryo ten minutes to grab his stuff. He found the cellular phone he'd bought a year ago and used it to call his grandmother as the driver started back down the mountain. He rolled his eyes a couple times and plugged his free ear, turning away from the inquisitive eyes of the driver looking at him in the rearview mirror with an exasperated smile. The man could hear him whisper, "Grandma, please, not so loud. The others, they—"

But the driver also heard Ryo cut off by a shout on the other end of the line, "THE OTHERS?! RYO SANADA, I DON'T CARE ABOUT THE OTHERS! YOU HAD BEST COME DOWN HERE, RIGHT NOW, YOUNG MAN! I WILL NOT TOLERATE SUCH BEHAVIOR!"

Ryo clamped his hand down over the earpiece. Once the shouting had faded away, he said in a rush, "Grandma, I'm very sorry but I have to go and you aren't stopping me. You know good and well that I will do as I wish with or without your approval. Don't worry; I've got Blaze with me. I love you. Bye!" and hung up without allowing time for an answer.

"Well," he said in reply to the questioning face turned towards him, "that went well. Umm, so…how long till we get there?"

* * * * *

Danji took the elevator to the fourth floor and walked down the corridor to the apartment door labeled D12. "Home sweet home," he muttered as he turned the key in the lock.

A quick rush about the apartment and he had everything shoved in a pair of duffel bags. Before leaving, he went to stand before the fireplace. The mantelpiece was decorated with a dozen framed photographs.

There was one in the center was of him and Dice covered in mud, standing in a garden. At the time, Dice had been fifteen and he'd been 23. Dice had convinced him to come down to the garden she kept in the courtyard of the apartment complex—she'd made a deal with the manager: she made the courtyard look wonderful with her gardening and the manager didn't have to pay her, just buy the seeds, plants, and tools. Somehow, they got into a mud fight and a neighbor had taken their picture.

Four of the pictures were of Dice's family. One showed her parents, Suki and David; one was of her sister Sharra—who was two years younger than Dice—one showed the triplets, Tabitha, Jukiah, and Cameron—two boys and a girl—all five years younger than Dice. The fourth was a group photo of all the Salems together, all seven smiling happily.

Another photograph was of Dice on her sixteenth birthday. Danji had snuck up on her while she was taking a nap in the garden, lying amidst a patch of bright orange flowers. With the orange flowers surrounding her, accentuating that lock of her hair, she looked almost ethereal.

Then there was a picture Dice had taken of him, also napping. He'd had a really long day—three surgeries, five minority accidents, and a birthing. He'd decided to sit down for a while in the doctors' lounge and he'd fallen asleep on accident and fallen on the floor. Dice had offered to take care of a toddler for someone for some reason and brought the child to the doctors' lounge with her for a coffee break. The little boy had decided to take a nap and went to sleep lying facedown on Danji's back with his little hands about the man's neck. Dice had taken a picture of the slumbering pair that turned out very well. A copy of the photo had been used for publicity for the hospital in a commercial and a newspaper article, showing how good the people there were with patients and children.

There was a photo of Danji at age eighteen, driving a car for the first time, his father, Akira Kajtim, sitting next to him, taken by his mother from the back seat. His father had gotten him to start sticking his tongue out at people and the two of them had a lot of fun teasing the people they passed.

One photo showed Akira sitting on the roof of the old family home, reading his newspaper up there because Danji was seven at the time and wouldn't leave him alone when he tried to read his morning paper. Another one depicted his mother, Mari, a week before she and Akira died in a plane crash. She was hanging upside-down from the tire swing that had hung from a tree in the front yard. There was another photo of Danji with his parents, arm-in-arm, smiling at the camera.

The last photograph was Danji's favorite, bordered in an expensive gold frame. It was of him and his sister dancing in the middle of a crowd on the street. His sister, Dania.

His twin.

He and Dania had been inseparable. They did everything together. Then Dania vanished. She had been supposed to meet Danji at a fast-food joint on their nineteenth birthday and their mother watched her leave, walking down the street in the direction of the restaurant, which was only three blocks away. But she never showed up. The police never found a trace of her. She was just gone.

Tears were welling up in Danji's eyes. He picked up the photograph and placed it reverently in the duffel bag. Then he gathered up the rest of the pictures. For some reason, he thought he'd better take them with him. 

A few minutes later, sitting in the back seat of the van while the driver maneuvered through the streets towards the private airport, Danji held the picture of him and Dania and let a few stray tears fall. "Oh, Dani, where'd you go?" he whispered. "Where? Why'd you leave me? I miss you so much, sis. I miss you."

* * * * *

Sayoko was waiting for them when they arrived. Cye got out of the van and Rip followed. The driver stayed behind to wait. Cye walked up to the veranda and exchanged hugs with his sister. "Hey, Say, how're things?" 

"Oh, fine. Who's your friend? Or should I say girlfriend?" Sayoko added conspiratorially.

"She's not my girlfriend! She's just a friend."

"Oh, so now I'm just a friend, eh?" Rip glared at him.

"No! I'm sorry, Rip. You know what I meant."

Rip shook her head and smiled. "You're too gullible, bro. I was just kidding."

"Well—well…don't do that."

"Excuse me but I think you've forgotten your manners, Cye," Sayoko hinted.

"Oh! Sayoko, this is Marina Kahanamoku."

"Call me Rip."

"Rip, this is my sister, Sayoko."

"Call me Say. Why don't you two come inside?" Sayoko turned and went into the house. Cye followed, though Rip came along rather uncertainly. She still wasn't used to this whole trust thing.

Sayoko led them to the kitchen and served up tea. At first she and Cye were content with exchanging small talk but eventually they ran out of things to say.

"How's Mum?" Cye asked.

"She's doing okay. I managed to prevent her from seeing the reports. Cye, give it to me straight. What happened? I know it has to do with that friend of yours, the Sanada boy. Him and that animal, the tiger. Why were you at a hospital? And when did _she_ come into the picture?"

"Say! Be nice." Feeling a burst of fury with his empathy, Cye cast a glance at Rip, who appeared to be fighting an urge to jump up and kill his sister. "Look, Sayoko, can we go somewhere else?"

"Fine. I'll be waiting for you in the kiln house. Mum's out there." Sayoko stood and turned sharply, stomping out of the kitchen through the French doors.

Cye felt Rip trying to calm herself but her enragement was quickly turning into a grudge. "Rip, I'm sorry—" 

"Don't apologize. You're not the one actin' all high and mighty," she began, setting out for one of her world-famous tirades. "Look, bro, I don't like people—as you may have figured out by now. I came here tellin' myself I should like your family cuz in a way they're mine, too. But, frankly, I don't think I like your sister. Just who does she think she is? Why do ya let her push you around like that? If I didn't know better, I'd say she was p…uh…"

"She's what, Rip?"

"Cye, how old is she?"

"Around 24. Why?"

"Is she married?"

"Yeah. She and Shizuko Ryuusuke got married three months ago. Rip, why are you asking such ridiculous questions?"

"Uh…Cye…brace yourself."

"Why?"

"I think you're going to be an uncle."

Blink…_"WHAT!!!"_

"Well, think about it. She's got the mood swings, the timing's right, and she had a look about her, especially in her eyes. One of my friends back home belongs to the kahuna's family. Her mom's a midwife and I've seen her working enough to know that look."

Cye stood up and stared out the French doors but sat down again. "Oh, man. Say? Pregnant? Rip, if you're right, then I'm a monkey's un—"

"Don't say it! Go talk to her or something. If I'm right and she is you-know-what then I'll forgive her. Otherwise, she's gonna learn not to mess with me."

"Alright. But, even if you're wrong, you have to understand, she's actually really nice and you'd probably like her anyway."

Rip scowled. With a grimace, she said, "Fine. I'll give 'er another try."

"Thanks." Cye left Rip grumbling in the kitchen and crossed the yard to the building that housed the kilns and finished pottery. When he came in, his sister was carrying a fountain piece, decorated with colorful koi carvings, across the room. She looked up when he came in and got into such a hurry to put the fountain piece down, she almost dropped it.

"Oh, Cye! Look, about what happened in the kitchen—I'm sorry, little fish. I don't know what came over me!" 

"Umm, that's okay, Say," he replied uncomfortably. _'I have to admit, Rip is right about the mood swings.'_ "I know you didn't mean anything by it. So, where's Mum?"

"She's in the back. Come on. I haven't told her you're here yet so it'll be a surprise…Oh, Mum, there's someone here to see you!"

"One moment! I need to wash my hands first. Who is it? Another representative from that Italian company?" At that moment, she walked through one of the doors, not yet looking up. She was a bit preoccupied with drying her hands on the clay-splattered apron she wore and walked right into Cye. "Oh, excuse me, sir! I didn't mean to—" She looked up and gasped. Then she practically leapt at her son.

Cye staggered back, laughing. Setting his mother down—she'd basically jumped into his arms—he kissed her cheek and hugged her. "I missed you, too, Mum."

"Shin, I'm so happy you're home. I wasn't expecting you." She glanced at her watch. "Oh, my! I'll have to set an extra place at the table."

"Actually, Mum, I won't be able to stay for supper."

"Why not?"

"I'll explain in a moment. There are some things we need to discuss. Tell you what, why don't you go on to the house. I need to talk to Sayoko. Oh, and I brought a friend with me. Just tell her you're my mother and I'll be there in a bit."

"Alright. You two don't stay out here long." With that, his mother left the kiln house.

"Uh, what did you want to talk to me about, Cye?" Sayoko also had a slight British accent, but hers wasn't as prominent as her brother's.

"About in the kitchen."

"Oh, right. I really am sorry. I hope I didn't make a bad impression with your friend."

"Don't worry about that. Look, what I wanted to talk to you about is…well it's, uh…I mean, um…see, Rip had this crazy idea…"

"Just spit it out."

"Are you pregnant?"

Sayoko stared at her little brother for a moment. "Excuse me?"

"I'm sorry," he started. "I didn't think Rip was right anyway but I just had to make sure and—"

"No, no! It's okay. I can't believe I hadn't thought of this…Cye, I could kiss you! I've been having morning sickness for the past week but I hadn't thought…oh, I've always wanted a baby. I'll have to make sure and then I've got to call Ryuusuke and oh, this is wonderful. And I can't wait to tell Mum! She's been wanting a grandchild…" Sayoko was already walking up to the house, her face aglow with joy. Cye stood there for a moment, staring.

Finally, he recovered and ran up the hill after his sister. He still had to get packed and explain everything to his mother and sister. And get Rip out of there. She probably was having a panic attack from being left to deal with people for so long. He'd really have to work on her trust problem…

By the time they left, Cye was ready to drop dead from trying not to laugh at Rip's nervous glances at his sister or from running around the house doing quick chores for his mother between packing. Rip, on the other hand, looked to be ready to drop dead from exhaustion. She ran herself out trying to be polite, civil, and avoid Sayoko, fearing another mood swing. Once she was in the van, Rip said to Cye, "Wake me when we get wherever we're going." A second later, she was fast asleep on the back seat.

* * * * *

Mia smiled up at her family mansion. This was home… She'd only been away from the Manor for two days and she'd missed it so much she'd thought she would go crazy. With a grin, she ran up the little hill from the drive, bounded onto the veranda and through the front door.

"I'm home!" she yelled to the old house.

It only took her ten or so minutes to collect everything on the list she and the guys had made the night before. Then, she walked about the house, locking windows and the four main doors of the house and checking up on various things. She set her laptop and a pocket-sized box full of floppy disks containing information left to her by her grandfather before his death during the war with Talpa around three years ago by the door. While the driver carried out the duffel bag she'd stuffed with clothes, Ryo's backpack, which she'd filled with stuff White Blaze would need, and her computer stuff, Mia dialed a known-by-heart number on her phone.

"Hi, Yule. How're things?"…

…Mia sat back in the van, content and satisfied. She'd told Yuli as much as she could in ten minutes, explained that he shouldn't talk to anyone about herself and the Ronins, and told him not to call the Manor or anything. After hanging up, she set the house's security system, locked up, and was now on her way to the proverbial airport.

Having checked up on her home did wonders for her mental state. Now, she could think about other things…like Danji. At twenty years old, she had a full-time job, a steady financial status, and a secure home. In her opinion, she was completely ready for a long-term relationship. And Danji fit her requirements to the letter. In summary, what she had to say about it was, "It's about time!"

* * * * *

"Ready?"

"I suppose."

"You suppose?"

"Yes. I cannot be sure of my readiness for this encounter. It is not an area in which one can predict possible outcomes very accurately so I may not be positive of my feelings towards it."

"Okay, so in other words you're not really looking forward to it."

"Correct."

Sage and Zee were standing next to the van, looking up the drive at Sage's family home. Zee had insisted that she could walk without assistance and hardly leaned on the van at all. She was definitely as stubborn—perhaps even as proud—as her soul-brother. Her bell-adorned headband had been left in the van; and in the hopes of preventing its movement, she had braided her hair and woven it with a blue ribbon. Rip had reluctantly lent her a pair of khaki slacks and a t-shirt so she wouldn't look odd in her toga. Rip had resentfully commented that, "It's not gonna make that big a difference anyway. She still looks weird." That had earned the water elemental a scolding from Cye, laughter from Ryo, and the beginnings of a disliking from Zee.

"However," Zee continued, "we will never know how I will—what was the phrase you used? —'get along with' your family, unless we go up to your house." And with that, she started towards the front door. Sage shook his head as he followed her.

"Zee, take it easy, will you? You need to give those legs of yours a chance to recover."

"Yes, I know. Still, there is no time for relaxation, if we are to gather all the elementals quickly."

"Stubborn and proud. No wonder you and Rowen are kindred souls."

Zee laughed a little at this. As Sage joined her at the door, she cocked an eyebrow at him expectantly.

"Okay," Sage said, "here goes." He opened the door and stepped inside. "Hello? Anybody home?" he shouted. He whispered over his shoulder, "Don't forget to take off your shoes, Zee."

"I already did."

"Sage?" a feminine voice rang out. "Is that you?" Suddenly, a blonde girl looking to be about 14 or 15 skidded around a corner in socked feet, bumping into the wall. She ran at Sage and embraced him jubilantly. "Oh, Sage! You're home! I saw the news and I thought maybe something really bad was going to happen or something and—oooh, everyone was so _worried_ about you!"

"Hello to you too, Satsuki!" he laughed.

Satsuki finally noticed Zee. She looked confused, then surprised, then curious. "Sage, where are your manners? Grandfather would be most displeased," she stated in a sarcastic voice.

"Oh!" he said. "Satsuki, this is a friend of mine, Zephyr."

"Zephyr who?"

Sage looked startled and a little panicked. "Ummm…Hashiba! She's Rowen's sister."

"Rowen's? But Rowen's an only child. He doesn't have a sister!"

Sage thought fast. "His dad adopted her last month."

"Really? Well, it's nice to meet ya, Zephyr!" Satsuki grabbed Zee's hand and shook it vigorously.

"You may call me Zee. Most people I know refer to me by that nickname." Zee smiled genuinely at the younger girl.

"Okay. Zee it is then. Well, I can see one thing similar between you and Rowen."

"Which would be?"

"The hair. It's different from the everyday stuff. Rowen's is blue and it's really cool. Yours is silver and it's beautiful. Did you dye it or were you born that way?"

Luckily Sage had already run over this question with Zee. "Hey," she said, "isn't a girl allowed to have at least a few secrets?"

Satsuki scowled. "That's pretty much what Rowen always says." Then, she imitated Rowen's voice and accent, " 'Isn't a fella allowed to keep a girl wonderin'?' he says. What's the big deal? I mean, I just wanna know!"

Sage broke in. "Hey, Suki, where is everybody anyway?"

"Oh, right! Lessee, Yayoi's in Sendai, Dad's at the station, and Mom's in the dojo with Grandfather. But, why—hey, where are you going?"

Sage was walking up the stairs, Zee not far behind. "Come on, Satsuki. I need to tell you something," he called without looking back. His younger sister looked up quizzically and followed.

In Sage's room, the three of them sat down. Zee sighed—Sage believed from relief that she was off her feet—and Sage took a deep breath. "Suki, I'm not staying."

"Why? You staying with someone else?"

"No…I'm going to Australia—"

"Oh, boy," Satsuki muttered. "This isn't gonna make Mom and Dad too happy. I don't wanna even think about Grandfather."

Sage ignored her. "I'll explain when I get back but I'm going to need your help."

Satsuki smirked. "With what?" she sang in a saccharine sweet voice.

Sage handed her a piece of paper. "I have to talk to Mom," he grimaced. "While I'm at it, could you help Zee pack these things for me? And find some of Yayoi's clothes for her? She doesn't have any with her and we don't have time to go to Rowen's apartment in Osaka to get what she's got there," he lied.

Satsuki grinned. "Okay. But I'm gonna need something in return."

Sage sighed. "Like what?"

"How about permission to play all your CDs for two weeks and use your practice no-datchi until you get back? Oh, and a souvenir from Australia."

"Fine, deal. Now hurry up. Zee and I have to be gone in 15 minutes." Without waiting for the two girls to say anything, he left the room.

Satsuki turned to Zee. "You heard the fella," she said in a mocking voice. "Let's get to work."

Later, with only a minute to spare, Sage and Zee left the Date house, with a duffel bag and a backpack. In addition, Sage had earned himself a headache talking to his mother, and Zee had one from trying to talk like a modern teenager. Both of them wanted nothing more than to simply sit back and relax. As the van drove down the road, Zee looked at Sage. "I have analyzed my personal impressions of your family and have come to a conclusion of my opinion towards them."

"And?"

"I cannot make an opinion of your father nor your older sister, Yayoi, as I have not met them yet. However, I believe your sister, Satsuki, is a loving young person, who admires you and aspires to following in your footsteps and, though she does not make it clear, wishes to impress you and your friends. She is also an independent spirit, a trait which will make her a 'ground-breaker' in your terms."

Sage smiled. "Okay. Go on."

"Your mother is an original, strong woman, who deserves the respect and love your family bestows upon her. She is kind, nurturing, and wishes only the best for her children. A hard worker, she has and will continue to make a fine living through her works."

"That makes perfect sense. What else?"

"In the case of your grandfather…I must admit that I am greatly impressed with him."

"Huh?" Sage was shocked. Usually, people thought his grandfather to be eccentric and overly strict. From the sound of it, Zee was complementing him.

"He is loyal to what he believes and what he lived his former years knowing. Such loyalty is admirable. I have a recollection of his time and I distinctly remember that it was one that hosted a fine generation. His strength and determination are equal to that of the greatest men I have observed. He is an excellent teacher and is just as loving and caring beneath his stern exterior as your mother. On a non-personal level…he knows."

Shocked? Ha! Shocked didn't even _begin_ to describe it. Sage now thought he'd heard it all. Now, what was this about Grandfather knowing what? "What are you talking about?"

"He knows of your armor. He has been aware of Korin since his early years. When you came into possession of it, he was not surprised in the least. As a matter of fact, I believe he had been planning on your inheriting it. He is most proud of your success in both average life and war. He is very intelligent. You do not give him credit. Perhaps you should learn more respect and recognition towards your elders."

"…ah…"

Zee smiled as she closed her eyes. _That should give Sage sufficient matter to think over._ A melody floated though her mind. _Now where did that come from? I do not recall hearing this harmony before._ A voice accompanied the tune, singing like it was second nature to its owner.

_Whatever happened to the old days?   
Do you remember the old ways?   
When everything was sweet and simple   
No longer lives a smile or a dimple_

The memories all have died   
There's nowhere left to hide   
And demons are knocking at your door

Don't take a step to move ahead   
Don't move a heel to run away   
Let all your agonies flow in season   
Make no excuses to escape their treason

The memories now arise   
There's nowhere you may hide   
And demons are coming through your door

Behold the product of adoration   
Uphold the hope for explanation   
Try not to fall from heights of splendor   
Let ice run through your veins in flurried terror

The memories now return   
The witch: they wish to burn   
And demons have claimed the final four

Zephyr tried not to listen to the song but it wouldn't allow itself to be silenced. Finally, as a last resort, she told herself to sleep. No sense in worrying Sage over a voice singing in her head. _I most likely simply heard the song during my wonderings on the wind,_ she told herself as she drifted off.

* * * * *

"Please, let this be the right thing."

"Shoq, what are you doing? It's just 3 a.m."

"Go back to sleep, Fey. I'm just running an errand."

"Okay."

With her friend already sleeping again, Shoquia looked back at her hastily hidden Seeing Square with a mentally-exhausted yawn. Now that it was done, she didn't know what had possessed her to do it. Helping a subconscious-intermental message across involuntary boundaries. Why had she gotten up to do this all of a sudden? Really, she had no idea. She could only hope it had been the correct action in the line of her self-appointed duty.

"Shoooq—" called Fey.

"Alright, alright. I'm going to bed."

* * * * *

"Are you okay?"

"Yes, I'm fine."

"Are you sure?"

"Of course. I just need to rest a bit and maybe do some meditating."

"Okay, go ahead. I'll keep watch for a while."

"Thank you."

* * * * *

"Excuse me, Mizuno, but what time is it?" Dice asked the driver.

"A quarter past twelve, miss."

Dice bit her lower lip. She remembered what she'd told Danji yesterday: _Around four in the afternoon. I think it'll be somewhere downtown._ "How long will it take to get to the airport?"

"About an hour."

Kento looked puzzled. "Hey, Dice, is something wrong?"

She ignored him. "Mizuno, could you please drive a little faster?"

* * * * *

The sumantra guards stood at attention. Lumen had just passed by and was now doing something in the cell of the most recently arrived prisoner. The human's cell door had been left open and was still so. The guards dared not move or speak while Lumen was in the vicinity, for fear of making a mistake. One guard was doing his best to ignore what was going on, since he could hear and see it all. It might be considered eavesdropping, a mistake he couldn't afford to make.

"So, you're awake, eh?" Lumen questioned the human.

The blue-haired boy snarled, "Yeah. Wish I wasn't though. Don't like lookin' at yer ugly face much."

"Shut up. Do you have any idea how much I will enjoy watching Xyrelyc dispense of you? Creatures such as you have no right to exist. Once my Lord has destroyed the wind elemental through you, he will have all of your disgusting race exterminated."

"That's what _you_ think."

"Watch it, creature. I don't know how you managed to regain your strength again, but I will take pleasure in beating it out of you. Xyrelyc wouldn't like it if I brought you to him without a scratch on you."

"Why? Is he afraid I'll kill 'im unless I'm half-dead? What a coward."

"Coward? Creature, I don't think you understand. Xyrelyc fears nothing. He _is_ fear. He is almighty and your existence, that of your solar system, is in his hands to do with as he wishes. He has conquered all he has come upon. Galaxies have fallen before him. He snuffs out the life of worlds so that they fall into his plan to make the universe perfect, pure."

"Pure? Perfect? Yeah, right! Ya can't just come in here and start killin' people. We don't go that easy. Against us, ya don't stand a chance!"

"Brave words for one with nothing to protect you. Do you forget?" Lumen smirked and leaned forward until his mouth was next to the human's ear. "I took your armor. You're powerless against me! I've won, you've lost." 

With a scream of rage, the human swung his head to the side and hit the side of Lumen's face. "YOU'LL NEVER WIN!!! Not as long as I'm around!"

Lumen traced his jaw, feeling the painful area where the human had hit him, with raised eyebrows. It would bruise but it wouldn't hurt for long. The human was straining against his chains. "Well," Lumen laughed. "You won't be around much longer anyway. Really, you should simply resign yourself to die. There's nothing you can do to stop it, pathetic creature." With a swift motion, he thrust his fist into the human's stomach, slamming it upward into the ribcage to knock the breath out of the sorry creature. "Humans!" he scoffed. "Stupid creatures; never do learn."

A guard suddenly called for Lumen. Lumen sighed and said, "Just when I was having fun, too. Oh, well, I can beat the lesson into you later. Duty calls! Must go!" He walked away to see why he'd been called.

He didn't see what the human was doing as he left. The human had his head raised defiantly. "Evil maniacs," he smirked. "Never do learn. Guess I'll just hafta teach 'em."

* * * * *

Dais had seen the conversation between Strata and Lumen. He had also seen what had happened 15 minutes before Lumen had shown up. Strata had suddenly awoken and become very stiff, almost as if he'd turned to stone. When he loosened up again, he'd been almost completely recovered except for his legs. Yet even his legs seemed to be somewhat better, just not by much. Then, when the Ronin had used his head to strike at Lumen, Dais had decided that he should distract the strange being from Strata for a while.

When a guard marched by, Dais shot his hand through the bars in the door and grabbed the throat of the black-uniformed guard. Pulling the guard up against the door, Dais whispered, "Give me your keys right now, or I'll rip out your throat." To dispel any doubts the guard might have of his sincerity, Dais got a painful grip on the cords of the guard's neck.

Gasping for air, the guard tried to shout for help, found he couldn't, and tried to claw the hand away from his throat. When he couldn't do that either, he finally just yanked the keys hanging from his belt off and handed them to Dais.

"Thank you," Dais whispered. Then, he stabbed a key into the guard's throat. As the guard fell to the floor, clutching at his blood-gushing throat, another guard finally noted what was going on and shouted out for Lumen.

Dais pulled his arm back into the cell and moved to the back of the tiny compartment. He armored up all the way and got his mace in hand. As the door swung open and guards spilled in, Dais charged forward, swinging the spiky metal club back and forth. When he'd made it through, he slammed the cell door closed behind him, and it locked automatically, trapping several guards inside. A small group of guards tried to grab him, but he smashed his mace into one's head, another's chest, a third's back, and a fourth's stomach. No more guards were in the corridor but there most likely would be soon. Now, for Lumen.

"Looking for me?"

Dais turned around quickly. Lumen lunged at him, and Dais had to duck fast to avoid him. Spinning around again, Dais saw strange jet-black spikes extending from Lumen's elbows and wrists. They hadn't been there before, but now that they were, Dais didn't want to find out what they could do.

"Listen up, you demon," Dais growled. "I have several things I wanna repay you for and I'm not in the mood to be denied. So you better prepare to DIE!!!" He rushed Lumen, mace raised above his head. But right before he would've been impaled upon Lumen's spikes, he simply vanished.

"Where are you?" roared Lumen.

"Where do you think?" Dais's voice came from all directions, echoing off the stonework.

Lumen laughed. "Your illusions won't work anymore, human. This fortress was built from adamas, the impenetrable stone. No magic or mystics can work here. The only reason your illusions have worked so far is due to the air, and they still will only work for a few moments before you are revealed. So, why don't you show yourself already? Spare yourself some trouble. Now, where are you?"

"I'm right here," came the mocking whisper. Even as Lumen started to whirl around, Dais's mace crashed into the back of his skull.

As Lumen sank to his knees, he laughed once more. "You just don't get it. You _can't_ win. My lord, Xyrelyc, is invincible. Your puny world has met its master."

"Would you shut up?!" Dais screamed and smashed his mace into Lumen's face. Stepping over the dead creature, the Warlord muttered, "Never did like that voice."

Then came an impatient call, "Yoo-hoo! Spidey! Real nice show. By the way, I'd kinda like to join ya out there but well, y'know, I'm kinda, oh…_locked up!_"

The Warlord turned toward the Ronin's cell. "Right! Keys," he patted himself, "here somewhere."

"They're in yer left hand, web-head!"

"Oh…right." Dais shrugged and ran to Strata's cell, not really wanting to take the time to meet up with any more weird sentient beings. "Did I ever tell you that your accent is kinda intimidating?"

* * *

Author's Notes:   
1) The song Zee heard belongs to a friend of mine, Scream. She's available at screamsong@hotmail.com. Depending on how you treat her, she writes requests.   
2) Many, many thanks to those who've reviewed or - in a rather rare case - taken the time to do me the great honor of sending actual email. Please, keep it up. I have C8 in formatting right now. Do you still want it?   
3) Facts of Life: "Good communication is as stimulating as black coffee, and just as hard to sleep after." Anne Morrow Lindbergh—meaning: duh, communicate, people!


	8. Revelations

            "Seh…seh…seh…"  
  


            "Shhhh…we're here.  Try not to move, Cale."

            "Seh…"

            "This is all your fault!" Kayura screamed at Sekhmet.  She pushed him away from the prostrate form of the other warlord.

            Sekhmet was furious.  "My fault?!  You're the one who threw that fireball thingy!"

            "I wouldn't have thrown the power orb if you had shut up!"

            "Seh…"

            Kayura was sitting beside Cale.  She'd been there for the past 15 minutes, cradling Cale's head in her lap.  Sekhmet had been trying to help but all that had resulted was several fights between the two remaining warlords.  Kayura couldn't heal Cale—she'd used what little mystic core power she had left for the power orb—and Sekhmet's healing capabilities only worked for poison-related ailments.  Cale had only started showing signs of consciousness for the last three minutes.

            "Cale, I'm so sorry," Kayura repeated for the hundredth time.  "Oh, Cale…"

            "Seh…" Cale tried again.  "Seh…Sekhmet."

            Sekhmet scrambled back to his position beside his fallen comrade and held his hand.  "Right here."

            "You…"Cale breathed.  "You…take…take care of…Kayura."

            Kayura covered her face with her hands and tried not to sob.  Sekhmet swallowed.  "Hey, man, what're you talking about?"

            "Take care of her…don't let them…don't…" the Darkness warlord struggled to say.  "Don't let them…take her…don't let them…"

            "Cale…I won't."

            Cale smiled.  A rarity for him and something to take seriously.  "Good," he said.  "Kayura…"

            Sekhmet got up and walked to the other side of the cell.  This was private, he knew; he wouldn't listen in on this.

            Kayura combed Cale's hair with her fingers.  "Yes?"

            "That was…real stupid…of you."

            Kayura gave a sad little laugh.  "I know.  I'm sorry.  I wasn't thinking."

            "That's…okay…" He opened his eyes and looked at her.  "Do you…remember the…legend?"

            "Which one?"

            "The…elementals…"

            "Yes, of course."

            "They're…real."

            Kayura looked surprised.  "Nani?" she asked.  "What?"

            "They are…I…saw one."

            "No, Cale.  You must've been dreaming," she soothed.

            "No…no, no…I saw one…she—"

            "She?"

            "Yes…she was…hurt…like me…we're…bound…" He was becoming less coherent.  "Real…white…so sad…bound…real…real…" Cale's eyes closed and he slept.

            Kayura carefully set his head back on the floor and stood up.  She walked towards Sekhmet, who had his back turned to her.  "Sekhmet?"

            The Warlord of Venom turned to the Ancient.  It had always amused him a little that she was so very, very old in spirit and yet her body looked like it was only around 15 or 16 years old…he was a fine one to talk, even if he did look to be around 20 (he'd matured physically since the Demon Wars).  How old was he now?  400?  450?  The number was better off unrecalled.  "What?" he snapped.

            Kayura suddenly rushed at him and hugged him tightly.  "I'm sorry; I shouldn't've blamed you; it was my fault and I had no right to accuse you of my own crime…thank you."

            "For what?"

            "For promising Cale—"

            "Nah.  I just said what he wanted me to…y'know, Kay…Cale really likes you."

            Kayura blinked.  "Huh?"

            "He likes you.  He has ever since we bumped off Talpa…he hated you before then, we all did—"

            "Oh, gee, thanks."

            Sekhmet grinned.  "Well, you were always so bossy and bitchy and—"

            "Hey!"  She slapped his arm and scowled.

            "But seriously, he really does like you.  Like, _like_ likes you."

            She squinted at him.  "Are you lying?"

            "…No."

            Kayura sat down on the stone bench/cot.  "Oh, dear."

            Sekhmet sat down on the floor beside the bench.  "Hey, Kay?"

            "What?  And why do you always have to call me that?"

            "Because it's cute.  And what I was gonna say was…Cale's gonna be okay."

            Kayura bit her lip.  "I hope so."

            "He will.  He wouldn't be stupid enough to die and make you mad."

            "Sek…you're nuts."

            "Yep," Sekhmet agreed and leaned back on the floor with a silly smile.  "I know."

* * * * *

            Sage pulled his reluctant companion along beside him.  "Come _on_, Zee," he said exasperatedly.

            "It is so big!  And the noise!  I have heard these machines in action before, Sage, and I do not like their sound.  They are awful creations!" the elemental declared.

            "Well, we still have to get on the plane, whether you like it or not.  Don't be difficult!  I swear, you and Rowen are like twins or something."

            "Hey!  Sage!" someone called.  When Sage turned to see who it was, Zephyr yanked loose and sat down on a chair beside the door that led to the tarmac.  She gripped the sides of the chair and wouldn't let go.  Sage glared at her.  She glared back.

            Cye and Rip ran up to them.  The airport employee, who'd been watching Sage try to get Zee through the door, looked past the pair of newcomers and saw more coming.  He shrugged and wrote in his little book.

            "Hi, Cye," Sage greeted.  "How'd your homecoming go?"

            "Uh…"

            "Cye's gonna be an uncle," Rip announced.

            "Rip!"

            "What?" She pretended ignorance of his resentment toward her and continued, "His sister's pregnant and none of 'em knew.  His mom was sure happy to see him, too.  She's kinda cool.  She gave me food." Rip grinned. "It was good…Speaking of which—"

            "If you say you're hungry again, I'm going to strangle you," threatened Cye.

            "Okay, then I won't say it.  But I can indicate it."  At that, her stomach growled.

            Cye narrowed his eyes at her.  "That's not funny, Rip."

            "I'm not trying to be funny," Rip said seriously but she was smiling.

            "Boy, you two get on just grand together, don't you?" smirked Sage.

            "Yeah, just great.  How'd your visit go?"

            "Satisfactory, let's leave it at that.  The only drawback was that Zee decided that she likes Satsuki.  She agreed with her on everything.  Figures, huh?"

            "I did not agree with her on everything.  I simply said that you should be friendlier with her.  Really, Sage, you are turning out to be truly discourteous."

            "Shut up, Zee."

            "No."

            "Zee…"

            Zephyr glared at him and then turned away, refusing to look in his direction.  Sage sighed.  "Zee's also decided to act like Rowen.  She's just as difficult as him.  She just remembered that she hates planes and now she's refusing to go anywhere near them."

            "Yeah, she's a real bitch," Rip said.

            "Rip!" Cye exclaimed.

            "Oh, please.  Quit being all hoity-toity, wouldja?  I'm gonna go find something to snack on."  She stalked off angrily.

            "I'm going to need a vacation," Cye said.

            "I second that emotion," agreed Sage.

            "And I third it!" Kento added, joining the group.  Dice followed him, looking haggard.  She nearly stumbled into him as he stopped before her.  Kento just put an arm about her to hold her up.  "And I think Dice would gladly throw her vote in," he laughed.

            "Mmm," was Dice's only response.  She plopped down in a chair beside Zee.

            "You guys ready to go?" Mia asked merrily as she approached.

            "You're too cheerful," Dice said softly.

            "And _you_ just need a nap," said Danji, stepping up to ruffle his friend's hair.

            "A long one," agreed Ryo, reaching the growing assembly.

            "Where the hell are the snack machines?!" roared Rip, storming past.

            The whole group watched her go by with a mix of amused, bewildered, bored, or blank expressions.

            "What's up with her?" Kento asked.

            "She's hungry," several people answered.

            Kento looked surprised.  "Is _that_ what I'm like?"

            The others just laughed.

            "Damn it!  Where are the freakin' things?!" roared Rip.

            "I'm not getting on that plane," stated Zee.

            "I'm not getting up, period," slurred Dice.

            "Grrrrrr," moaned White Blaze.

* * * * *

            Fey sat on the little rock beside the little pond.  She laughed at her companion's tale.  "And then what happened, T'vika?"

            "We dropped the chestnut on his head.  He just fell over right there without a single sound."

            Fey howled with laughter.  T'vika, sitting upon Fey's knee, giggled and beat her wings for emphasis.  A few of the other faeries scattered around the area also giggled.  K'sinn, a deep violet faerie, rolled her eyes from her perch on Fey's shoulder.  "It really isn't that funny, Fey," she said in a bored tone and sighed.

            "I thought it was!"

            "More likely, you were just looking for an excuse to act like a hyena," commented a new arrival.  Shoquia sat down on another rock with a basket full of dirty laundry.  K'sinn flew to Shoquia's shoulder, for she found the charmer far more favorable to her tastes than Fey.

            Fey scowled.  "Don't be such spoil sports.  T'vika's story was _very_ interesting and it _was_ funny!"

            Shoquia and K'sinn exchanged a glance.  "If you say so, Fey."

            Fey and T'vika both glared at the other two.  T'vika beat her bright green wings and repositioned herself on Fey's shoulder as the wild girl rose to her feet.  "C'mon, T'vika, we don't need them," she said in an offended tone and walked away.

            K'sinn just sighed in unison with Shoquia and asked, "So, how're things?"

            The charmer placed her washboard in the water and began to violently scrub a white shirt on it.  "Same as any other day," she grunted.

            "You seem a little pale.  Have you fed lately?"

            Shoquia closed her eyes.  "No.  But I don't really wish to.  It is so…"

            "Vile?"

            "Yes."

            "But, charmer, it is your way.  That is how you survive."

            "Yes, yes.  I know.  Still, I don't look forward to my hunts."

            With a thoughtful expression, K'sinn lifted herself into the air and alighted on Shoquia's busy hand.  "Now, Shoquia, listen to me.  You are what you are.  You will do what you will do.  That is the way of everything."  The violet little faerie smiled sadly into the teal-haired girl's tired face.  "You must feed.  You do not bring death upon those whom you use for your nourishment.  You merely borrow what you need from them…" She was silent for a moment and then sighed.  "There is nothing wrong with wanting to live."

            "I suppose that is one way to look at it."

            "It is.  You should go hunting, now, charmer.  I'm guessing that you haven't fed properly in at least two weeks."

            "I will, dear K'sinn.  But first, I must finish this laundry."  She began scrubbing the shirt again, forcing her little friend to return to her shoulder.

            K'sinn shook her head stubbornly.  "No.  You should hunt now.  You are too pale for my liking."  She jumped up and whistled sharply.  Five other faeries, of various colors, flitted over to her.  "We will do the laundry."

            Smiling gratefully, Shoquia rose with a weary groan.  "Thank you, little friends.  If Fey asks for me, tell her where I've gone, please."

            "Yes, of course.  Now, go!  Hunt!" insisted K'sinn.

            Laughing, Shoquia drew her cloak's hood up over her head and vanished into thin air.

* * * * *

            "How're you holding up?" Dais whispered.  He had Rowen's arm about his shoulders and his own arm wrapped around the teen's waist.

            "Fine," rasped Strata.  In truth, he looked rather ill.  Without his armor, his legs weren't the most appealing sight and having to let them drag along the floor wasn't helpful when it came to pain.  "J'st fine…Oh, shit…"

            Quickly, Dais turned the boy's body toward a corner and helped him to bend over.  When Rowen was done, Dais carefully moved him away from the waste and helped him to sit down.  Rowen weakly wiped his mouth with the back of his hand.

            "Well?" prompted Dais.

            "I'm okay…Let's keep going."

            Dais's face was grim.  Carefully, he lifted the Ronin up and they began moving down the corridor again.  It was perhaps the 6th they'd gone down and the first that had no guards patrolling it.  Dais knew why.  The guards were getting organized.  They were preparing to hunt him and Rowen down.

            "How far…is it?" choked Rowen, stifling a moan.  He, too, was aware of the reason for the lack of guards and thus, the need for silence.

            "Their cell is at the end of this corridor and up those stairs, I believe." Dais tried not to step up his pace, knowing it would only increase Rowen's misery.  _And we're running out of time_, he worried.

            Rowen's head was pounding.  He clenched his eyes shut tightly.  Then, he blinked and tried not to groan.  "Uhhh…my head…" Abruptly, the persistent throbbing in his head exploded.

            Dais heard the Ronin groan and then the teen went limp.  The dead weight made Dais stumble.  "Damn," he cursed.  "Kid?"

            Rowen did not reply.

            "Kid?!" Dais stopped and turned the Ronin so that he could look at the youth's face.  Rowen's eyes were wide open and rolled back, the whites glaring in the dark of the corridor.  All pigment had left his face.  Somehow, though it was not that ghastly, the sight made Dais feel ill.

            "Oh, shit…" the Warlord said and swept Rowen up into his arms.  He ran the rest of the way down the corridor and started up the stairs.  The Ronin was heavier than he would have thought, but it might've been due to his own poor health.  After all, he'd only had one meal a week since his arrival in this miserable hellhole.

            As he struggled up the stairs, surprised that he couldn't keep the perfect balance he usually had, he heard sounds ahead of and behind him.  The guards were coming.  Dais picked up speed and lurched over the last step.  Panic fueling his strength, he rushed down the corridor, counting doors as he ran.  He finally counted the 12th one on the right and, with a sigh of relief, ran up to it.

            "Sekhmet, you get over here right now or I'll kill every snake I can get my hands on," he gasped through the metal bars of the cell door's window.  He nearly dropped Rowen right then.

            Sekhmet came to the door fast as lightning.  "Dais!" he started but then saw the look of warning on the other man's face.  He lowered his voice.  "Who's that?"

            "Strata," replied Dais curtly.  "Now take those keys and unlock the friggin' door.  I can't put the kid down."

            Sekhmet slid his hand through the tight space between the bars and grabbed the ring of keys hanging from a protrusion of Dais's armor on the shoulder.  "Which one?" he asked.

            "Hell, if I know!  Start trying 'em."

            Sekhmet started to try to push his arm further through the bars but stopped.  He turned around.  "Kayura, you do it.  You're smaller."

            Kayura left Cale and came to the door.  She had already gotten one key into the lock and was twisting it when she noticed what Dais was holding.  "Ancient," she breathed.  "What in the name of all holiness happened to him?!…Is that Strata?"

            "Yes, yes, yes!" cried Dais impatiently.  "The keys, Kayura!"

            "Oh!"  She began trying the keys again.  She was on the fourth one when a spear flew out of the darkness and barely missed the Warlord in the corridor.

            "Kayurrraaa—" he began.

            "I know, I know: hurry!  I am hurrying!"  The monk tried another key.  The lock clicked.  Drawing her arm back inside, Kayura shoved the door open.  "Sekhmet, get Cale!" she ordered.

            The Venom Warlord picked up the injured man quickly and ran after the Ancient and the others.  "Umph," he grunted.  "He's _heavy!_"

            "Damn!" Dais looked up and down the corridor.  The guards were close.  "We aren't going to make it."

            Kayura was staring at Rowen's legs and at his forehead.  Her mystic senses could feel the wrongness in the teen.  "Oh, no…they took it?"

            Dais nodded.  "Yeah.  Near killed him taking it, too.  And if they catch us, first thing they'll do is kill him.  They want him dead more than anything."

            "Why?"

            "Elementals.  They really want to kill off his elemental link.  Apparently, if they kill him, the elemental linked to him will die, too."

            Kayura turned towards Cale and Sekhmet.  "Cale said…"

            "Damn," said Sekhmet.

            A volley of spears began to rain down around them.  Kayura, jumping away, saw one spear graze Dais.  He tried to spin away, which only helped the spear to set him off balance.  The Warlord fell hard, his head colliding with a wall.  He was knocked unconscious.  Sekhmet groaned behind Kayura.  She turned around.  "Oh, gods!"  A spear had caught the green-haired man full in the abdomen.  He slid down the wall, coughing.  Cale lay on the floor where Sekhmet had dropped him.  Rowen was no more than a pathetic heap beside Dais.

            Kayura looked around her frantically.  She was the only one still standing.  The guards were coming.  Spears flew everywhere.  Her mind racing, she rushed over to Sekhmet.  "Oh, gods.  Oh, gods…" she sobbed.  Laying a hand across Sekhmet's brow, she looked into his dimming eyes.  "Hold on.  Just hold on."  A burst of white light exploded from the man's forehead and was absorbed into Kayura's hand.  She jerked and choked.  Turning from her fading friend she laid her hand on Cale's forehead.  Another burst of light was absorbed into her hand.  She jerked again.

            Running to Dais, she did the same to him.  By now, she was shaking all over.  Falling to her knees, she had to struggle to grab Rowen's hand.  No light would come from him, but she had to hold onto him or she would lose him when she did this.

            Lying on the cold, black, unforgiving stones of the corridor floor, Kayura whispered, "_Locius transi ven_."

            With a shudder, she lost consciousness.  An explosion of bright white light surged into existence around her body, enveloping the Warlords she'd touched and then collapsing in upon itself.  No one but the guards remained in the corridor.

* * * * *

            Danji knelt beside Dice.  "Dice, it's almost four o'clock," he told the sleepy girl in a hinting voice.

            Dice blinked at him for a moment.  Then, she shot out of the chair.  "Oh, God!"  She turned to Kento.  "Let's get on the plane!  Now!"

            "What?  But you just said—" began her soul-brother in confusion.

            "Nononononono!  We have to get on the plane!"

            "Dice, perhaps you should calm yourself," said Zee.  "I will not get on that plane simply because you say to."

            "Ohhhh…" groaned Dice.  "Okay, then I'll help you."  Before the startled Zee could react, Dice had picked her up and was carrying her through the gate.

The others hurried after them down the little tunnel hall.  Sage was laughing at the furious expression on Zee's face and the string of foreign curses she was shouting at the earth elemental.  Kento just grinned and shouldered both his and Danji's bags.  Mia smiled and evaded Danji as he tried to pick her up.  Laughing, she ran down the tunnel with the grinning doctor close on her heels.

Behind them, Ryo and Cye were trying to pull Rip away from a snack machine.  She put up quite a fight and screamed "But I'm _hungryyyyyy!_" the entire way down the hall.  Finally, she gave up and went along with them.  But when they released their hold on her, she quickly socked Ryo in the eye.  Then she ran down the hall with a wicked grin, Ryo trying to tackle her the whole way.

Cye followed, laughing, with the annoyed White Blaze beside him.

The gate attendant at the door blinked after the group had departed and shrugged.  As long as he got paid.

* * * * *

            Shoquia propped the young man against the mud wall of the hut.  She turned and walked away into the forest that surrounded the little village.  The young man would awaken in a few hours.  He would feel a bit woozy and have a sore neck for a couple of days, but nothing more serious than that.  He would never even remember what had happened to him.

            Rubbing her fangs with her tongue, Shoquia found a path amongst the trees and followed it.  After that feeding, she felt much better, but she still hadn't fed enough to feel replenished.  She detested the process and never looked forward to it.  But, as K'sinn had said, that was her way.  Still trying to wipe the coppery taste of the young man's blood from her fangs, Shoquia approached another village.

            She was surveying the possibilities from the shadows of the forest edge when, abruptly, she froze.  She had felt a disturbance.  Distant and enclosed, but there was no doubt in her mind that it had been powerful.  She retreated back into the trees and drew her red-gold fire ring from her cloak.  "Show me Fey," she asked of it.

            The ring lit up in its strange white fire and Shoquia peered through it, seeing something that wasn't there.  She could see Fey, still hanging around the little pond back home, and safe.  "Good," said the charmer, happy to see her wild friend was alright.

            She was about to put the ring away when a thought occurred to her.  "Wait…show me the sumantra."

            The fire ring's flames winked in and out of existence once.  This time, Shoquia could see the sumantra.  It's colossal walls and turrets rose high above the trees around it, stretching to a height of nearly 5 stories above ground, and there were at least four more levels below ground.  Shoquia closed her eyes and thought towards the massive fortress.  She could almost taste the traces of a foreign magic in the air around the sumantra.  She followed the residue in her mind to a certain corridor within the dungeon.  She knew all she needed to.

            Opening her eyes, she grabbed the fire ring out of the air and thrust it back into her cloak.  She glanced over her shoulder at the village.  Her hunger was still quite great…

            No, she had to go now.  _Quickly_.

            A moment later, a leaf drifted down and touched the ground Shoquia had just transported from.

* * * * *

            Cye carefully avoided looking out the window.  Beside him, Rip happily munched on Twix bars.  Across the aisle, Kento and Dice were arm wrestling on a food tray.  A few rows behind them, Sage was still trying to calm down Zee.  In the very last row, Mia and Danji were laughing and talking.  White Blaze and Ryo—who had a black eye from where Rip had punched him at the airport—were 3 rows in front of Cye and Rip, the tiger stretched out on the floor beneath Wildfire's feet, groaning his complaints against air travel.

            The plane had taken off nearly ten minutes before.  Zee had covered her ears, squeezed her eyes shut, and, for a moment, it seemed that a gust of wind would knock the ascending aircraft off kilter.  By now, the wind elemental seemed much calmer, but was still slightly furious.  Sage had had to choke back several laughs at Rowen's soul-sister's petulant expression.

            "I win!" cried Dice as she slammed Kento's fist down.

            Kento rubbed his sore knuckles with a frown.  "Okay, rematch!"

            "No…I'm too tired…"

            Hardrock shrugged.  "Dice?"

            "Mmm?" She was already half asleep.

            "Why was it such a big deal that we got on the plane?"

            Dice caught her breath.  In the back of the cabin, Danji froze and turned his head towards his young friend and her soul-brother.  "Uhhh…" began Dice.

            Kento was surprisingly patient.  The others had caught the tension in the air and were now paying close attention.

            "Dice…just tell them already," said Danji.

            The girl sighed.  "Oh, alright."  She looked Kento directly in the eye.  "There will be an earthquake near the airport in a few minutes.  It will split the tarmac and bring down a large portion of the hangar.  Several planes will be damaged severely.  No one will be seriously hurt.  But if our plane hadn't yet taken off when the quake hit, we never would have gotten to Australia.  We would have been trapped in the airport.  The media would've swarmed the place, found us out and…well, the rest is easy to figure out."

            Everyone was silent for a moment.  Kento broke it with, "Huh?"

            Dice shook her head.  "Since I was about 9 years old, I've been able to predict almost the exact time earthquakes will hit, where they'll hit, and figure up most of the extent of the damage they'll cause.  The other day, when Sage thought I'd just drifted off into La-la Land, I was feeling out an earthquake."

            "Okay," said Kento.  "…Well, I guess that could come in handy."

            "And you're sure that no one'll be hurt down there?" asked Ryo.

            Dice blinked.  She was surprised.  "Yes…but you're not…you aren't surprised or mad at me or anything?"

            "Why would we be mad at you?" laughed Mia.  "And as for surprised…Dice, we've seen quite a lot, especially in the last few days.  Very little can surprise us."

            "Oh."

            Kento laughed at the fawn-eyed girl's expression.  She scowled and shoved him.  "Hey!" he exclaimed.

            "Shut up."

            The rest of the group was no longer interested.  They ignored the pair's arguing and the ensuing arm wrestling.  For a while, it seemed to Ryo that he might actually get some sleep.

            _Wrong._

            Zee had gotten up to retrieve a glass of water from a cart at the back of the cabin.  Halfway there, she simply collapsed without warning.  She didn't make a sound.

            Sage got to her first.  He raised her to a sitting position and held her against him.  "Zee?  Zephyr?  Can you hear me?"

            "Damn," cursed Ryo.  "This just never ends, does it?"  He helped Sage to move the girl to a seat.

            Danji and Dice were leaning over her immediately.  "She's got a good pulse," said Dice.  Danji nodded.

            A minute later, Danji straightened up.  "I can't see anything wrong with her.  Maybe she's just sleepy."

            "This kinda reminds me of an epilepsy absence seizure," Dice commented.

            "She couldn't have epilepsy.  She's not human, remember?"

            "Good point."

            "Well, so what do we do now?" asked Mia.

            "Wait for her to wake up.  I'd bet half this plane that something weird's up," said Ryo.

            "Don't say that!" moaned Cye.

* * * * *

            "I don't think—"

            "I'm fine.  I'm just having some difficulty staying awake."

            "It's more than that."

            "…I suppose you might be right."

            "We're going to have to get involved now."

            "No.  Not yet."

            "But the charm soul…"

            "Don't worry.  I believe this may work to our advantage."

            "How?"

            "Wait and see…I think I'll sleep some more now."

            "…Alright."

* * * * *

            Shoquia appeared in the corridor and stumbled.  She allowed herself a soft moan as she leaned against the wall.  Her fingers touched something sticky and wet.  She raised them to her lips and sniffed, then licked the sticky stuff delicately.  The taste nearly knocked her over again.

            "Vrath!" she cursed.  The blood tasted of power.  It was certainly not _completely_ mortal.  And, thus, not the sort she fed on.  Shoquia lifted a long grey feather to the wall.  She held it just above the surface and moved it up and down and from side to side, as if scanning.  Then, she touched the feather to her forehead.

            "Oh, my…" Within her mind, she could see the man whose blood she'd just tasted.  He was tall and had green hair.  Around him was an aura of a specific power.  Shoquia's mind was already searching through all the knowledge of mystic auras that her experience as a charmer allowed her.  "A yoroi.  That's what it is.  He's one of the humans Xyrelyc had locked away.  What were they called?"

            She tasted the blood on her fingers again.  For some reason, it reminded her of Fey.  "MaSho," she told herself.  "They were Warlords."

            Strange thoughts kept bothering her.  She knew she should go to Xyrelyc and get him up to speed on how his prisoners had escaped.  The magic residue in the corridor air spoke of transportation of a very unusual sort.  The transporter had used several different forces to cause the porting.  But she couldn't shake those strange thoughts.  None of them made sense, really.

            Then she realized what it was.

            "I was wrong."

* * * * *

            Rip grinned.  "I can just barely see the very tip of the landing strip," she told Cye.

            "That's nice.  Put on your seat belt."  He had already strapped his on and was nervously awaiting the pilot's announcement that they were landing.  He glanced at the Hawaiian girl.  She hadn't done as he'd said.  "Rip!  Put on your seat belt!"

            She rolled her eyes.  "Why?  The pilot hasn't said anything yet.  Why do you panic so much.  Landing's easy."

            Cye glared at her.  "Put.  On.  Your.  Seat belt!"

            "No!"

            "Rip, please," he pleaded.

            She looked at him strangely.  "Cye…are you afraid of heights?"

            "Oh, that's right.  You weren't there when we had confession time." Ryo started laughing, remembering the looks on Cye and Sage's faces.  Soon, everyone else—excepting Zee, Sage, Cye, and Rip—was laughing.

            Cye just scowled.

            "I'll take that for a yes." Rip looked thoughtful.  "Okay, Cye.  When I was 3 years old, my older brother, Tar, took me out to a beach, sat me on a surfboard, and swam me away from shore.  The first little wave that came along, Tar let it take me back to shore.  At first, I was screaming and scared out of my mind.  But Tar just kept taking me out and letting the waves carry me in.  After a while, I realized that I wasn't going to drown, or fall off and have the board hit me, and that the waves weren't lifting me _that_ high.  And then…it was just fun."

            Cye blinked.  "But how does that apply to—"

            "What you fear may not be as bad as you think it is.  But first, you're going to have to face it."

            The Ronin sat thoughtfully.  This girl hardly trusted the ground she walked on—being her soul-brother and the Ronin of Trust, he knew that—and here she was, helping a bunch of almost total strangers at the expense of thousands of dollars.  If she could make herself do something like that, he should be able to do the same.  "I suppose…I could try not to be, um…scared."

            Rip smiled.  "Okay.  Here, I'll put my seatbelt on and all that stuff.  And you…well, why don't you try looking out the window before we land?"

            Torrent gulped.  "O-okay."  He unbuckled his seatbelt and began to lean across Rip towards the window.  He willed himself to look out the window, but couldn't quite do it.

            "Relax," said Rip.  "I think you'll find it's kinda cool."

            With a deep breath, Cye looked out the window.

            Not terribly far below, miles of green and blue and other colors flowed past.  Several trees, a field, and then a flock of sheep greeted Cye's eyes.  Three young children were running around with the sheep and two dogs were helping to herd the flock.  From his vantage point, Cye could merely tell that the children were children and the dogs were dogs.  But still, this new perspective of so many earthbound, simple wonders left him feeling strangely liberated, privileged.

            "Wow," he breathed.

            "Aia la!" exclaimed Rip.

            "Huh?" Cye looked at the girl in confusion.  She'd spoken in a language other than English or Japanese.

            "She said 'There!  I told you so!'," explained Zee, sitting up. "In Hawaiian."

            "You're awake!" Sage was at her side almost instantly.

            "Yes, I am awake."  Zee pulled away from Halo's hand.  "And I believe you shall all be quite pleased with what I found out while sleeping."

            "You know Hawaiian?" scowled Rip.  "Shit."

            "Rip!"

            "But that's not right!  You shouldn't know my language.  It's not fair.  I don't _want_ her to know Hawaiian!"

            "My apologies," said Zee.  "I shall block off that portion of memory from now on, until it is needed, since it upsets you so."

            "Whatever," growled the water elemental.  She had developed a deep disdain towards the silver-haired immortal.  Zephyr herself seemed to be getting a little peeved over Rip's attitude.

            "Zee, what did you find out?" asked Ryo.

            "Rowen has returned to this realm.  I can almost feel him, again."  She looked very pleased.  "Although, it was an abnormal manner in which he returned."

            "We'll have to find him soon," said Kento.  "If he doesn't have his armor…he'll need us."

            Just then the pilot's voice came over the loudspeaker, instructing them to prepare for landing.  Rip sat in her seat grumbling about lingual laws; Cye seemed more relaxed now that he'd looked out the window; Kento was trying to wake up Dice; Sage was keeping a concerned eye on Zee, who looked like she would glow with happiness over Rowen as she yawned; Ryo was trying to keep White Blaze from licking his face; Danji was stretching and looking at a brochure.

Mia was thinking.

* * * * *

Dais was the first to wake.  He opened his eye to a glaring sun, a drum-filled head, and a peculiar scent, pleasant but unknown to him.  At first, he thought it might be a dream.  But the drums in his head took up a heavy rock beat, dissolving that idea.  He groaned and clutched his head.  In the process, he got sand in his hair and on his face.

_Sand?_

He rolled over onto his stomach, hiding his sore eye from the midday sun, and looking instead at the sand that he was lying on.  _Sand?_ he thought again.  _Aren't I supposed to be looking at stone?_

"Oh, wait a minute…" He slowly sat up, groaning as his world was set a-kilter by his complaining head.  When it finally settled down again, he thought quickly.  "We were in the corridor, the guards threw spears at us.  One nearly hit me…but then what?"

_Sekhmet.  Something happened to him._

That got him going again.  He began to really look around now.  "Sekhmet?  Kayura?  Kid?  Cale?"  No one replied.  Dais pushed himself to his feet.  He was lying on a beach.  Deep blue waters surrounded the little coast, which was fenced on its landside by unfamiliar plants, mostly tropical trees and undergrowth.

Turning in a circle, the Warlord shaded his eyes and searched his surroundings for other people.  A metallic glint caught his eye.  Like the pinprick of a star, except it was sometime after noon and the metallic "star" was too close to the ground.  He started out in that direction.

What he found was Kayura, lying on her side and coughing into the sand with wide, frightened eyes.  Her left hand gripped one of her jitte; her right grasped the unarmored Strata's arm.  Her armor was throwing off odd glows and her face was all but colorless.  Her pupils were becoming dilated.  Strata was still unconscious and certainly not looking any better.  But Dais didn't think anything could be done for the kid without Kayura's help, and she was obviously in some sort of trouble, so he concentrated on her.

Dais knelt and gently disengaged Kayura's deathly grip on Strata, but decided against taking her jitte from her.  Carefully, he rolled her over onto her back, triggering another, more violent coughing fit.  She wasn't getting much air.

"Shh, Kay, shh," he murmured.  "What's wrong?"  He couldn't see any wounds, but the way her armor was reacting had him anxious and he wasn't sure what to do.

The ancient girl just gasped and coughed, her eyes filled with confused fright, her free hand clawing the sand desperately.  She couldn't tell him a thing.  It was all very strange.

Unsure of himself, Dais sat her up and pounded her back.  Maybe she was choking.  But, no, she wasn't turning blue, and the treatment didn't work; although it didn't hurt either.

Dais glanced around the beach.  He couldn't see Cale or Sekhmet.  It seemed he was the only one of the group not incapacitated.  What could he do?  If Kayura didn't survive, in this strange land, Dais doubted he could do much for the kid.  And last he'd seen of Cale, he doubted that he could do much for him either, should he be able to find the other two Warlords.  Sekhmet, it seemed, must've been injured, for Dais could almost remember the sound of the man groaning in pain, though he wasn't sure that was a true memory.

"Oh, kami," said Dais.  "What can I do?  Kayura, what—ah, shit—I don't know…"

_I can't breathe._

Dais froze.  He was imagining things, surely.  He'd heard Kayura's voice, but not out loud.  In his head.

_Help me, Dais.  Please._

He stared at her.  _I'm going insane,_ he thought.

_No, no you aren't,_ said the voice.  Then it seemed to grow frightened.  _Ancient, help me._

"Kayura?  I—you—you're in my head!"

_Dais, please!_

He looked down at his youthful friend, dying there in the sand of who-knew-where.  _Ah, to hell with it!  It's not like I have any other options.  What do I do?_

Kayura's body showed no sign of awareness of his presence, but that voice definitely sounded like her.  _I can't breathe, Dais.  I used a random magic and each of your Deep Life powers to…_ The voice struggled.  _…get us out of there.  I just thought that we had to get away, that we'd all die…and now…I overdid it.  I was in no…condition for that sort of magic use.  I can't…it's eating me alive, Dais._  Abruptly, the voice screamed, _Take it back!  Take it back, **please**!_

Dais was confused.  He didn't know what to do.  _Take what back?  How?_

The physical Kayura suddenly stopped moving and just lay in the sand.  The hand that had so tightly clasped the jitte let the blade fall away.  The voice was small and strangled, pained, now.  _Your Deep Life.  Take it back.  Don't you feel it missing?  Just make it come back to you…oh, Ancient…_

Dais thought of doing CPR, but somehow he knew it wouldn't do any good.  Instead, he began to reach into himself, searching in a near-frenzy for whatever the voice claimed he had lost.  And, indeed, he did feel something…_wrong_, something missing that shouldn't be.  He held Kayura's lifeless hand and willed whatever-it-was to return to him.  Begged, pleaded, coaxed, threatened, but mostly just willed.

A bright flash exploded behind his good eye and he fell backward.  He scrambled back up again, but found himself so strangely disturbed that he ceased the effort.  A moment later, he knew that whatever-it-was was with him again.  He leaned over the Ancient girl.

She breathed.

"Thank, gods!" he shouted and let himself fall back again.  He waited a few minutes, then heard a soft moan.  "Kayura?"

"Uuuuhhhh…"

He hurried to lean over her again.  She gazed up at him with a nearly blank look, but not quite.

"That hurt," she said suddenly.

Dais laughed.  Kayura glared at him.  "I don't think it's funny," she said.

"I know.  Of course, it hurt.  It must've, considering what all I just saw."

"It isn't over yet.  You only took yours.  I still have Cale and Sekhmet's."

He stopped laughing.  "Eh?  You mean, that really was you talking?"

She looked confused.  "Yes.  What did you do?"

"Me?  I didn't do anything.  I thought _you_ started the voice-in-my-head thingy."

"I guess it's just a natural thing between us then."  She scrunched her brows together in thought.  "I wonder…"

"If we can talk to the others that way?  I was thinking the same thing."

"Where are they?"  Kayura glanced around.

"I dunno.  What can we do about the kid?"

She sighed.  "I dunno."

"I guess we should start looking for the guys."

"That would be a good idea," she said.  She was doubled up and biting her lip.  "I think their Deep Lives are in a voracious mood."

"Here we go again, then."  Dais picked up Strata and then used one hand to help Kayura to her feet, letting her lean against him.  "You know, you could've at least sent us somewhere useful."

"I did," was the reply.  "I think I sent us to the region of an elemental."  She glanced up at the Illusion Warlord.  "I _think_…"

* * * * *

A guard found Shoquia lying in a shivering heap on the corridor floor three hours after she'd arrived there.  After her revelation, she'd finally run out of energy and collapsed.  Despite her cloak and how well her hands and feet were wrapped—well up past her elbows and knees—the floor was still terribly cold.  By the time the guard found her, the charmer was wondering if she'd die there on such a hideous stone.

The guard recognized the teal-clothed figure huddled in the darkness immediately.  Very few people in the sumantra had not heard enough of Lady Shoquia not to recognize her.  Her magics, mystics, and charms were a favorite topic amidst the lower-ranks.  But mostly, it was the story of how she'd become involved with Lord Xyrelyc that interested the servants, slaves, and guards.

Nearly 15 years before, Xyrelyc had been brought a cage full of a dozen Shadow faeries as an offering from a rural lord.  Variably colored, each one unique in shade, hue, and tint, Shadow faeries were rarely caught.  Xyrelyc was, of course, pleased with the gift and the rural lord who'd gifted them found himself rather favored for several years.  But it wasn't the faeries that truly had Xyrelyc intrigued.  It was the possibility of capturing a Queen.

Shadow faeries lived in flights of up to 75 individuals and if a flight had at least 30 faeries in number, it had a Queen.  A Queen was a faerie born from a blossom, the same as any other faerie, but in a much more extravagant display.  Mere hours after birth, a Queen would have grown to the size of a human infant.  Henceforward, a Queen grew as a human would, excepting concealable wings and strangely tinted hair, eyes, and skin.  Renowned for their beauty, sightings of a Shadow Queen were extremely rare, and it was said that those who met their eyes would either know such sorrow as couldn't be lost for the rest of their lives or eternal happiness.

Xyrelyc took it into his mind that he wished to have himself a Shadow Queen.  He liked to collect rarities and certainly, a Queen was rare.  So, he allowed one of the faeries given to him to go free.  The little Shadow flew straight to her Queen of course, and told her what had happened to her companions.  The Queen had been furious.  She'd gone to the sumantra in the night and freed the captured faeries, and would have slain Xyrelyc, too, but could not find him.

The Queen gave up her search for the Lord and was leaving when she suddenly found herself caught up in a net.  She had been captured.  She was brought before Xyrelyc, who had become entranced with her.  Delighted with the Queen, he took on a solid form, something he did only once a century, and she could not help but fall in love with him of her own free will.  She carried his child with pleasure and he gave her freedom to go where she pleased, though she always returned to him.

But when the young Queen, Qindra, went into labor a month earlier than expected, she was deep within a mystic forest in a foreign realm, exploring.  She couldn't return in time to birth the child at the sumantra.  There, in that strange place, she delivered a little girl.  Demons infested that particular realm, and intended to toy with Qindra.  They sprung up spirit fires about her and she was trapped.  She screamed and pleaded for help, shielding her child from the hungry flames.

It happened that someone was amidst the forests of the demonic realm that day, hunting.  That was Shoquia, a young charmer.  At the time she was 19 mortal years old, but in the way of her race, she would be that age in appearance and development for the rest of her life, if she so chose.  Shoquia heard Qindra's screams and hurried to her rescue.  By the time she arrived at the fire, though, Qindra was close to death.  Shoquia couldn't get past the flames.  In desperation, she plunged her bare arms into the fire and grabbed the Shadow Queen.

The flames were not of common fire, they were almost sentient.  They tore at Shoquia's arms and hands, toying with her through torture.  The charmer was unable to drag the Queen out of the fire.  Drawing her cloak about her she stepped into the flames and bodily moved Qindra, who still clutched her daughter in her nearly-lifeless arms, out of the demonic fire.

The flames died away, the demons had had their fun.  Shoquia's arms, hands, feet, and legs were deeply burned, and would scar hideously.  Nothing the charmer did could save Qindra, and the Queen died there.  But the infant lived; she had not even been licked by the flames.  Shoquia took the child into her care, not knowing if it had any other relatives.  She named it Fey, "fated one", for the circumstances of her birth and her mother's death had been most unfortunate, a cruel game of fate.

From that day forward, Shoquia had wrapped her arms and legs, feet and hands, in the teal wrappings.  She had searched through her magics, mystics, and travels for any trace of Fey's origin or kin.  She finally met a flight of Shadow faeries, who told her about Qindra and Xyrelyc.  By this time, Fey was in her fifth summer and the charmer loved her as her own daughter.  Shoquia had gone to Xyrelyc, and the Lord had agreed to allow her to continue acting as Fey's guardian.  Since then, a sort of working relationship had been held between Lord and charmer.

Now, in the cold adamas-masoned corridors of the sumantra, the guard lifted the weakened Shoquia with respect.  "Lady," he said in his slithery voice, "I'll take you to Lord Xyrelyc."

Helpless, Shoquia could not protest.  She merely lay in the guard's arms, wanting to scream with guilt and hunger.  _I have been wrong for so long.  I've helped to destroy a wrong that did not exist, that was truly good.  I was so wrong._

* * * * *

            Mia didn't mention her thoughts till the group was settled in a hotel suite in downtown Brisbane.

            "I think the next elemental may be here," she announced, interrupting various conversations.

            "What?  Why?" asked Ryo.

            "The poem."  Mia glanced around to make sure she had everyone's attention.  "Remember the lines: _The next, radiant and loud/ Loving life down under, shining proud._"

            "Yeah.  So?"

            She sighed.  " '_Loving life down under_'.  Down under is a phrase used in reference to Australia."

            "Hey, we're in Australia," said Kento.

            Dice patted his arm.  "Yes, Kento.  Australia," she said as if speaking to a kindergartener.  He glared at her.

            "So, the next elemental's somewhere in Australia?  I guess that narrows down the search a bit," said Ryo.  "But this is a pretty large country.  Heck, it's its own continent!"

            "Well, we found Dice, Rip, and Zee pretty easy.  Who's to say we won't find the other two the same way?"

            "Kento, that was luck.  The chances of something like that happening are one in billions," Cye commented.  "The other two elementals probably won't just come to us.  We have to find them."

            "Now, how do we go about that?" pondered Sage.

            "These are the times when I wish we lived in a sci-fi movie," joked Kento.  "We could use scanner-tracking thingies to locate our subject and it'd all be so easy."

            Zephyr looked at him thoughtfully.  "Tracker?" she asked.  "Is that the device that uses signals to follow an object or person from a distance?"

            "Yeah.  And a scanner looks at things to see if they have something hidden in them.  Sometimes, the aliens use them to scan Earth and see if there are intelligent life forms living here."

            "Kento," groaned Dice.

            "Hey, a guy can dream."

            "I think," Zee said softly, "that I have a way we may track-scan for the other elementals."

            "Really?  What?" Mia was very interested.

            "I am immortal…My immortality does not appeal to me anymore.  I believe that I would not enjoy life much after Rowen's and your lives had…expended."

            Sage looked lost.  "What are you saying?"

            "I want to give up my immortality."

            No one said a thing.

            She continued, explaining, "There may be a way for me to break up my immortality and spread it amongst the other elementals.  I would retain a small part of it for myself and that would allow me to track the other parts, which would, at that point, be within the other elementals."

            "So, in tracking down your scattered immortality, you would track down the elementals," clarified Cye.

            "That is the idea."

            "Hmm…" Mia mused.  "That sounds useful.  Would you be giving it to just the two we're missing or to all four?"

            "All four.  It could prove valuable to have a means of locating one another."

            Mia seemed excited.  She said eagerly, "Well, then how do we go about this?"

            "I will require extensive meditating.  As long as it goes uninterrupted for at least eight hours, I should be capable of breaking up my immortality.  I simply need a quiet place to begin."

            Danji said that there was a spare room in the suite he and Sage were sharing.  So, Zee went off with the doctor to settle herself there.  Meanwhile, Cye asked, "Rip, when were you planning on visiting your friend?"

            "I was hoping to start looking for Roar right away—"

            "You mean you don't _know_ where she lives?"

            "She's moved a lot.  She's kinda…um…homeless."

* * * * *

            Several hours later, at nearly midnight, Cye awoke sweating.  His empathy was reacting to something.  Someone was involved in an intense process, concentrating fiercely, and causing themselves a very slight amount of discomfort.

            Rubbing his sweaty face with a sheet, he left the bed.  Leaving his bedroom, he wandered down the hall and knocked at a door.  Someone inside mumbled a sleepy acknowledgment.  Cye opened the door and entered the room.

            "Kento?  You awake?"

            "No…"

            Cye sat on the bed.  "I think Zee just started breaking up her immortality."

            "That's nice…"

            "I'm going to go make sure Sage and Danji don't interrupt her.  I won't be gone long."

            "Yuh-huh…"

            Cye shook his head and departed.  Leaving the suite, he walked down the hall to another door.  It wasn't locked, as the group had agreed.  Entering quietly, the Ronin crept through the dark to the door he believed to be Sage's.  Instead of knocking, he decided to use the telepathic link.  He didn't want to take the chance that that was actually Zee's room.

            _Sage?  Are you in there?_

            At first there was no response.  He tried again.  _Sage?  Sage, it's about Zee._

            _What about her?_

            Cye smiled.  He had caught on more than the others about the wind elemental and his blond friend.  _She's just started breaking up her immortality.  Just thought it would be wise to make sure you knew so you wouldn't interrupt her._

            _Oh.  Okay.  I'll tell Danji._

            _I'm leaving now,_ said Cye.

            _Yuh-huh._

            Cye nearly laughed.  As a final comment before he left the suite, he said, _I think you're turning into Kento._

            Sage would've made a nasty remark of his own if Cye hadn't broken the link.

* * * * *

            The next morning, Kento had to wake Cye up when Torrent didn't wake before 10:00.

            "Ohhh…good, morning, Kento.  You're up early."

            "No," grinned Hardrock.  "You're up late."

            "Late?"  Cye glanced at his bedside clock.  "Oh, my."

            "Zee just came out of her room a few minutes ago.  She's not in a very talkative mood.  Kinda sleepy.  Sage had to give her a lot of coffee."

            "Zee needed coffee?  But she said the other day that when she wakes up, she has no problem being alert.  Apparently, it's a part of her im—…oh.  Guess it worked then, eh?"

            "Yep.  She's finding mortality to be, uh, what were the words she used?  …'A nuisance-filled existence'."  Kento grinned.

            Cye laughed.  "Okay, well, I'm up.  Might as well start cooking a late breakfast."

            "It's been covered.  We ate cold pizza for breakfast.  Zee loved it.  That made Rip mad."

            Torrent sighed.  "I don't understand her prejudice against Zephyr.  It's sort of petty."

            "Yeah, well…Come on.  We're doing an experiment."

            "Experiment?  What kind of experiment?"

            Leading the way out of the suite, Kento didn't turn towards another set of rooms, but to the elevator.  "We're checking to see whether or not the tracking works.  Dice and Rip are hiding somewhere on the hotel grounds and Zee's trying to track them down."

            "Uh-oh."

            "Why 'uh-oh'?"

            "Rip's going to be difficult," groaned Cye.  "She'll do everything she can to make Zee fail."

            "Uh, from what I've seen…I doubt that Rip can succeed."  The Chinese boy laughed.  "You shoulda seen Zee.  Hyped up on that coffee, and with that fresh heal Sage gave her legs this morning, plus her good mood…" He whistled.  "I wouldn't want to be her quarry if she were a hunter."

            "Oh?  If she's in a good mood, she must feel better about Rowen.  Which reminds me, any more news on him?"

            Kento shook his head.  "Zee hasn't even mentioned him.  But, Cye, just between you and me…" He glanced around as if to check for any other people.  "I think Sage and Zee—"

            "I already knew, Kento."

            "You did?"

            "Empath, remember?  One good thing about this new ability, I discover all the interesting stuff before the rest of you.  In fact, I think they were imitating Mia and Danji's balcony act the night before last."

            "You're kidding."

            "Nope," smiled Cye.

            Kento laughed.  Just then, a swift gust of wind swept past them.  Kento stopped laughing.  "Hey…was that…"

            "Zee!" shouted Cye.  "You're wind!"

            The wind came back around and solidified before the pair.  Zee stood there, a soft smile lighting up her face.  "Yes.  It feels so good.  Do you know what this means, though?"

            "Rowen's close by," Cye realized.  "Wonderful!"

            "I agree," the elemental said.  She began to shift again but Cye stopped her.

            "Be careful that no one sees you in shape-shift.  And, Zee, feel welcome to hunt Rip to death.  She deserves it for being such a brat."

            Zephyr just smiled.  "Once again, I agree."

* * * * * 

            Kayura watched in silence as Dais dragged Cale over to the shady spot where she sat beside Sekhmet and Strata.  Upon heaving Cale into the scanty shadows of the trees, Dais sank to the sand with a sigh.  "Ugh, he's heavy."

            Kayura smiled.  "We have to wake him up, now.  He has to be conscious to take back his Deep Life.  Sekhmet, too."

            Dais glowered at her.  He looked at the green-haired man.  "You healed him a little."

            "Only a little.  I'm still not strong enough to do much."

            "Mmph."  Dais sat Cale up, patting his face.  "C'mon, scar-face.  Time to wake up."

            Cale groaned and opened his eyes.  "What are you doing here?" he moaned.

            "Ah, gee.  Thanks for the warm welcome.  Wake up."

            Cale concentrated on breathing.  "Where's Kayura?"

            "Right here.  How're you feeling?"

            "A little…better…I guess."

            "Good.  Cale, we have a problem," said Dais.  "Kayura needs your help."

            That got the Warlord's attention.  "What?  What's wrong?"

            "She overloaded.  Borrowed some stuff from you and me and Sekhmet to get us out of that hellhole.  And now, it's eating her alive from the inside out."

            "Eh?"

            "I took your Deep Life, Cale," said the Ancient's descendant.  "Unfortunately, one person's Deep Life never gets along with another's.  Yours and Sekhmet's are ripping me apart."

            "What…do I…do?"  He was still having problems breathing.

            "Take it back.  Just will it to you, out of me."

            "Okay."  He grunted as he tried to sit up.  Dais helped him.  A few moments later, he collapsed back into the sand, exhausted.  "Weird stuff," he said.

            "Sorry," Kayura apologized.  "Are you okay?"

            "Of course not."  He seemed about to go back to sleep when he suddenly asked, "What's Strata doing here?"

            "Long story, buddy.  Go to sleep," ordered Dais.

            A few minutes later, Sekhmet was groaning on the sand.  "Kayura, don't ever do something so stupid again," he said.

            "I seem to be saying this a lot these days but I'm sorry."

            "Hhhhhnnnn…" hazed Sekhmet as he drifted back into unconsciousness.  His wound was a mess.

            "Strata?" reminded Dais.

            Kayura smiled sadly.  "I can't heal him or Sek or Cale.  Cale seems to be coming along.  Sekhmet's not bleeding much any more; the transporting seems to have frozen the wound a bit.  But Strata…I think he may die."

            Dais sat there, shaking his head.  "That won't work.  Where're the other Ronins?  What do we do about the kid's armor?  And what about your staff?"

            She sighed.  "I don't know.  I'm too tired for all of this.  Maybe when I wake up, we can do something for the guys.  Can you keep watch for a while?"

            "Sure."  He watched her slip easily into sleep and then turned to watch the sea.  The sun had come up hours ago.  Once or twice, he'd seen a boat out far out on the water.  And, occasionally, he'd gotten a whiff of air that smelled of city-life.  So, he concluded, there had to be some mortal civilization nearby.  They were definitely in the mortal realm.

            Glancing over his shoulder at his slumbering companions, he let his gaze linger on the armorless kid.  He started to think.  Standing up, he moved over to sit beside the boy.  "This is a stupid idea," he told himself and laid a hand on Strata's forehead.

            _Kid, do you hear me?_

            No response.  He'd known it was a stupid idea.  He moved away from the teenager again.  He watched wave after wave after wave strike the sandy shore.

            _Mornin', Spidey._

            Dais nearly jumped out of his armor.  "Crap," he mumbled.

            _Why's my mouth feel so dirty?_ drawled the voice in his head.

            The Warlord turned and scrambled up to the boy again.  _Kid, you hear me?_

            _Yeah.  There's sand in my mouth._

            Dais grinned.  _So spit it out._

            _Too tired._

            _What do you expect me to do?_

            _Nothin'.  Ain't that whatcha always do?_

            _Ever the cynic.  Why don't you wake up, kid?_

            _Told you.  Too tired.  Ain't worth it.  Hurts too much.  J'st wanted to tell ya not to bug me anymore, 'kay?  Stay outta my dreams._

            _Oh.  Okay._

            _Yeah._  The voice stopped.

            "This whole gig's a little too tangled for my web, I think," Dais said to himself, returning to his wave-watching.  The waves came in, the waves went out.  A perfect rhythm, eternal, a true natural symphony.

            Dais looked from shore to sea to sky.  "Where the hell are we?"


	9. Look to the Morning

_If Barbie's so popular, why do you have to buy her friends?_

*

If I could tell the world one thing it would be

That we're all okay

And not to worry, cause worry is wasteful,

And useless in times like these

I won't be made useless; I won't be idled with despair

I will gather myself around my faith,

For light does the darkness most fear

—"Hands" By Jewel—

***

            A guard deposited Lumen's body in the room that slaves and servants referred to as "the morgue".  It was a freezing cold chamber, constructed from the same stone as the rest of the sumantra, except that metal cabinet-walls had been built within it, lining the room from one wall to the next.  Each metal wall had 50 drawers in it, which were guarded by an enchanted lock.  Each drawer held one object apiece.  Some were simple artifacts collected by Xyrelyc over the centuries.  Others were magical things.  In fact, the Ancient Staff now resided within one such drawer.

            But mostly, the drawers were used for the storage of bodies.  Xyrelyc did not waste.  Lumen was an Obsidian, from the 3rd universe Xyrelyc had conquered.  The Obsidians had eagerly allied themselves with Xyrelyc.  They were a bloodthirsty, war-loving race and fierce warriors.  And Xyrelyc had made good use of them.  Lumen had managed to increase his rank until he was one of a dozen different individuals who were basically in charge.  Sometimes, he had seemed rather idiotic, yes.  But, mostly, he had made a magnificent general.

            When one of his generals or second-ups became deceased, Xyrelyc always had them stored away.  Once in a while, Shoquia would attempt a resurrection.  These events did not always succeed—in fact, only two out of 13 had worked out so far—, and the charmer was always drained of her resources for a month at the least, but it was still a useful practice, as far as Xyrelyc was concerned.

            The guard left Lumen on a table for the morgue keeper to deal with and left hurriedly.  The sumantra's residents did not like the morgue and avoided it as much as possible.  The morgue keeper came up to the table after the guard had departed.  He was a massive creature, a little over 7 ½ feet tall, with a shoulder span of 2.5 feet.  He was completely devoid of hair and had no lips.  His nostrils were simple slits in his near-flat face and his eyes were only pupils, no irises.

            The morgue keeper laughed—a sound he omitted through his nostrils—when he saw Lumen's body, with it's smashed skull.  He'd always suspected that the Obsidian would be killed by one of his prisoners and here he was.  The prisoner had done a somewhat efficient job of it, too.

Lumen's face was gone, the back of his skull caved in widely enough for his black brain to slide out.  The keeper removed that organ and bottled it away carefully.  Then, he touched a lock and the drawer slid open.  The keeper placed the maimed body inside and closed it.  The drawer locked automatically.  The keeper returned to his supper, which had to be absorbed through his hands.

In the drawer next to Lumen's, the Ancient staff jangled once, responding to a vague, faint trace of Dais on the body.  Then, it stopped, locked away in one of nearly a thousand dark metal drawers, just part of the inventory.

* * * * *

Rip waited until Sage had walked past the bush she was hiding behind, then sprinted across the hall into the elevator.  As the metal doors closed, she released the breath she'd been holding.  "This is so stupid," she said to herself.  She didn't like this gig.  Letting Zephyr hunt her down was certainly not Rip's idea of fun.

She was trying to get to the pool.  If she could just get to the water…well, she didn't know what she'd do, but she had a feeling she'd be able to hide better for some reason.

When Kento had let her and Dice out of the suite to go hide, Rip had watched Dice take off for the hotel gardens.  Rip would have headed directly to the pool, herself, but Zephyr, Sage, and Mia had come out of the suite just then and Rip had had to hide in a storage closet off the stairwell at the end of the corridor.  For a moment, the water elemental had thought that Zephyr was going to find her but then Dice had run into a room service waiter and made a bit of noise.  Zephyr had gone after Kento's elemental sister and left Rip in the closet.

 The elevator doors slid open.  Rip checked the lobby for any sign of her group, saw none, and ran for the glass doors that led to the pool area.  She walked casually up to the pool edge and dove in gracefully.  Rough and wild as she was, when in the water, the Kahanamoku girl was as graceful and serene as a swan.

Rip swam to the bottom of the deepest part of the pool.  She sat down on the tile at the bottom, a trick she delighted in doing because she didn't float off as other people would, and watched the light patterns that played upon the blues and greens of the tiling.  She would have to go up for air in another minute; she could only hold her breath for up to 3.5 minutes safely.

Suddenly, she realized that she _wasn't_ holding her breath.  At first, she was going to project herself towards the surface.  But then she felt a soothing calm come over her.  She let herself sit there and thought about this strange new experience.  How could this have happened?

_Of course_, she thought.  _Zee.  That stupid immortality crap she put in me must have triggered some new abilities.  Wonder what else I can do?_

Curious, Rip tried exhaling.  To her surprise, she felt air reentering her lungs when she inhaled again.  With this knowledge secured, she didn't try to hold her breath anymore.  She smiled.  Zephyr would never find her now.

            A hard object hit her head.  "Ow," she growled.  "Damn!" she said when she realized she'd just spoken aloud underwater.  She looked at the object.  It was a weighted ball, the type used in swimming pools to practice 'dive and retrieve'.  Rip picked it up and looked upwards.  Sure enough, a kid was pushing himself down through the water towards her.  He saw her below him and smiled, gesturing for her to give him the ball.

            Rip grinned and pushed herself off the tile.  She sped up to the boy but didn't stop to give him the ball.  She grabbed him about the waist and continued upward.  A second later, the two of them exploded from the surface before falling back into the water.  Rip lay on her back in the water, laughing.  The kid sputtered and stared at her.

            "What the bloody 'ell!" he exclaimed in a heavy Australian accent.  "You just did a dolphin's breach there, gi'l!"

            "Yep," said Rip.  "Wasn't it fun?"

            The kid laughed.  "Yeah, i' was! Can we do it again?"

            "Blimey, Seth!" said another kid.  "How'd you do that?"

            "I didn't," Seth said.  "She did."

            The other kid looked at Rip.  "Jeez…Hey, Tawny!  Gabe!" she called to another pair of kids.  "Did you guys see this here sheila jump outta the water?"

            "Aye, that we did."  The other two kids swam over.  Rip noticed right away that they were a little sickly and tired looking.  "Don't think the lifeguard's too happy about it, either," said Gabe.

            "Ah, so what?  It isn't like doing cool stuff like that's a crime, now, is it?" smirked the kid who'd called them.

            Tawny smiled at Rip.  "So, what's your name?"

            "Rip."

            Tawny and Gabe froze.  "Did you say Rip?" asked Gabe.

            Rip shrugged, setting herself vertical in the water again.  "Yeah, so?"

            "You from that island out there by the States?"

            "Ya mean Hawaii?"

            "Yeah, that one."

            "Yeah."  Rip looked from one of the unhealthy kids to the other.  "What's the big deal?  So I'm from Hawaii and my name's Rip.  So what?"

            "Ah, jeez…" muttered Tawny.

            "Eh, am I missin' something 'ere?" asked Seth.

            Gabe shook his head.  "Nah.  Look, Seth, you and Linda go on with whatever you blokes feel.  Tawn and I gotta be goin', now."

            "A'right.  See you tomorrow, then?"

            "Nah, I don't think we can make it.  We'll try back by your place next week maybe.  Don't count on it, though."

            "Yeah, okay.  See ya then!"  Seth and Linda swam off, tossing the weighted diver's ball between them.

            Rip was confused.  What was with these kids?  They talked all around her but they didn't want her to leave, which was obvious by the way little Tawny was gripping her arm.  "Um, is there a problem or are you guys just being strange?" she asked bluntly.

            Gabe glanced at his little sister.  "Well, Miss Rip, ya see…Tawny and I…Roary's our sister."

            Rip nearly dunked herself.  "Aw, man!  You kids…where is she?"  Things were making sense now.  No wonder these kids looked so bad off.  They _were_ bad off.

            "Back at home," said Tawny.  "Seth and Linda are friends of ours.  They're staying at the hotel today before they go on a trip with their parents.  We just came to swim with 'em a bit 'fore we had to go home.  What're you doin' in Australia?  Roary says that the States are a _long_ way off."

            "I was in Japan on family business.  Thought I'd come down here to visit your sister."

            Just then the lifeguard started shouting.  Some other kids had gotten a little too rough at their play and the lifeguard was dragging them out of the pool.  "That's it!" he yelled.  "Everybody outta the pool!  Ya don't like it, blame it on these brats!"

            With a unanimous groan, all the kids started getting out of the pool.  Rip lost sight of Gabe and Tawny in the process.  She tried to call to them but they didn't come.  They must've left the hotel, nervous that they'd get in trouble for being there when they weren't actually _staying_ at the hotel.

            "Damn," hissed Rip.

            "Rip!"

            She turned around.  It was Dice, who was running towards her.  The earth elemental slowed down as she neared the pool, observing the rules.  "Rip," she repeated when she was close enough, "Zee's right behind me.  She nearly found me.  Has she caught you yet?"

            "No.  Better get moving if we don't wanna get caught now."  With that, Rip headed in the opposite direction of the way Dice had come.  "Let's try hiding in the hotel.  Maybe we can get in the kitchen or something."

            These plans were ruined, however, when they opened the door and ran directly into someone.  Dice, after colliding with Rip, lost her balance and fell to the ground.  "Ow!"

            They'd crashed into Cye.

            "Hello, you two," he said cheerily.  He reached down and helped Dice back to her feet.

            "Thanks," she said.

            "No problem.  I take it that Zee's on your tail, is she?"

            Dice nodded.  Rip scowled.  "We gotta be goin', Cye," she said.  She grabbed Dice's arm and dragged her through the door.

            Cye watched them go.  A minute later, Zephyr walked past him calmly.  She had a knowing smile on her face as she passed through the door.  Cye grinned.  Zephyr was definitely going to find them soon.

* * * * *

            Shoquia lay on the bed and concentrated on breathing.  She felt so weak.  Why had she left her hunt so hastily?  She shouldn't have tried to do so much without nourishment.  Now, here she was.  Trapped.

            The guard had taken her to the corridor just outside Lord Xyrelyc's power chamber, the room where he spent his "working" days.  One of the generals had approached the guard and after a quick discussion, the general had taken Shoquia from the guard.  The general was one of the three Prime Generals, his name was Tolneth, and as a Prime, he had permission to enter Xyrelyc's chamber without summons under circumstances of importance.

            Tolneth had taken Shoquia to Xyrelyc and repeated the guard's story of finding the Lady in a dungeon corridor.  He had laid the charmer on the floor beside the liquid pool.

            "She _does_ look somewhat unhealthy…" Xyrelyc's disembodied voice had mused.  "Charmer, can you hear me?" he'd asked her.

            Not even strong enough to respond, Shoquia had simply lain there in pain and hunger.

            "She's too valuable an ally to lose.  We shall have to try to restore her health.  Take her to a comfortable chamber.  Do not stay with her, do not allow anyone entrance to the room," ordered Xyrelyc.

            Tolneth had bowed and picked Shoquia up again.  "Yes, my lord," he'd said and left with the charmer.

            And so she lay on the bed in the chamber she'd been taken to.  She'd been there for some time now.  She was worried about Fey and about her new knowledge.  She knew now that she had been helping Xyrelyc to do something wrong.  Fey might be the Lord's daughter by blood, but as far as Shoquia was concerned, the Shadow-child was her daughter too.  She didn't want Fey involved in this mess.  She had to get to the girl and get away before Xyrelyc suspected that she'd turned.

            But as long as she was crippled by her hunger in this way, she could do nothing.  She was already having difficulty keeping conscious and thinking straight.  What could she do?

* * * * *

            Rowen picked up another rock.  He tossed it at Cale half-heartedly and sighed as it pinged off the warlord's armor harmlessly.  That was the fifth one he'd hit the man with, and not so much as a mumble had rewarded him.  If he'd had enough energy, he could throw one hard enough to break the man's back, but he didn't so he couldn't.  He picked up another rock and tossed it.  This one hit Cale square between the shoulders.

            Cale groaned and sat up slowly.  He looked behind him and saw Strata lying on the sand and watching him.  "What?" Cale asked, annoyed.

            "Sorry.  Didn't think it was a good idea to wake up Kayura yet cuz she looks kinda haggard.  Dais was awake all night, just went to sleep when I was wakin' up; and Sekhmet's a mess.  You didn't wake up when I called you so hitting you with rocks seemed appropriate."

            Cale stared at the Ronin's legs.  "Damn…what happened to you?"

            "Some tin cans tricked Ryo into Flaring at me."

            "Oh.  What're you doing here?  Where's your armor?  And where are we?"

            "I'm here cuz Dais over there got used to capture me after I got barbecued.  My armor was stolen…and then we escaped.  And we're somewhere that's better than wherever we were."  The kid smirked.

            Cale shrugged.  "Yeah…So, why'd you wake me up?"

            "Cuz my legs are killin' me and talkin' to someone'll keep my mind off it.  Even if that someone has to be _you_.  What happened to you anyway?  There's a crispy spot on your chest plate."

            The Warlord glanced at his armor.  There was indeed a circular spot where Kayura's power orb had struck him.  "Hmph.  Kayura threw a hissy fit at Sekh and tried to blow him up.  But those walls in that place reflected her power back at her and me and I got hit.  It messed me up a bit, I guess."

            "Mmm."  The kid was quiet for a moment then suddenly vomited on the ground before him.

            "Hey!  You okay?"

            Strata wiped his mouth with the back of his hand and looked up at Cale.  "Nah.  That's the third time that's happened since I woke up.  I'm gettin' used to it."

            "That isn't normal, kid.  I'm gonna wake up Kayura."  Slowly, Cale unsteadily got to his feet.  He was pleased to find that he felt much better and was capable of walking the few steps to Kayura's side.  He nudged the Ancient with his foot.  "Hey, you, wake up!" he said.

            "What's wrong?" she mumbled, sitting up.

            "The kid over there isn't doing too good.  Keeps throwing up."

            She looked up.  "Cale?  You're okay?"

            "Yeah, my armor healed me some overnight.  The darkness helped.  Real darkness, for the first time in two weeks."  He smiled.  "Now, worry about the kid for a bit.  He's real messed up."

            Kayura looked at Rowen, who was still lying on his side in the sand.  "Hey, there, Madame Evil," he greeted.

            "Cynic," she sighed.

            "Yep."

            Kayura stood up.  "Give me your cloak and sit down," she ordered Cale, noting he was still a little wobbly.  The Warlord grinned and obeyed.  Kayura walked over to Rowen.

            "Well, Mr. Hashiba, how are you feeling today?" she asked.

            Rowen was a little surprised to hear that Kayura knew his name but didn't show it.  "Crappy, thank you," he replied.

            "Then let's see what we can do for you, shall we?"  She sat down beside him and spread Cale's cloak behind his legs.  Then, she maneuvered him until his legs were on the cloak and sat him up.  He grunted once.

            "So, how'd you sleep?" she asked.

            "Woulda slept better 'cept I kept having weird dreams.  Zee was doin' somethin' difficult."

            "Zee?"  Kayura wasn't really paying much attention.  She was busy surveying his condition.

            "My soul-sister."

            Kayura's head snapped up.  "Come again?"

            "My soul-sister."

            "Your soul-sister?"

            Strata rolled his eyes.  "Zephyr, my soul-sister, is the wind elemental.  I call her Zee for short."

            Kayura sat back.  "The wind elemental.  What was she doing?"

            "Breaking up her immortality, I think."

            "She's an immortal?"

            "She _was_ an immortal.  She gave it up last night."

            The Ancient looked impressed.  "Do you know why she would do that?"

            "No.  I was too tired and my dreams are strange."

            "Oh…"  Kayura returned to examining his legs.  "Okay," she said a minute later.  "This is what I'm going to do.  I'm going to try to heal you a little now, and then in a few hours, I'll do it again.  We'll keep that up for the rest of the day and hope it helps."

            "Sounds good to me."

            "Alright then.  Here we go."  And she closed her eyes.

* * * * *

            Sage saw Rip and Dice run by, Rip dragging the other girl toward the hotel kitchen.  Then he saw Zephyr, only a minute behind, walking at a leisurely pace.  He left his place beside the staircase rail, where he'd been standing for the past ten minutes, and followed the elementals.

            Rip grabbed a man coming out of the kitchen.  "I'll pay you thirty-one dollars to let us into the kitchen," she told him.

            The man looked at her blankly.

            "Okay.  Forty-five dollars."

            He hesitated, but then held out his hand.

            Rip slapped the Australian currency into his hand and grabbed Dice again.  The man led them into the kitchen and showed them a corner beside a far wall where they would be out of the way of the employees.  "Thank you," said Dice as the man walked away.

            "We should be well-hidden here.  Zee'll never find us."  Rip's expression was smug.

            "I would not be so sure of that," whispered a voice behind them.

            Both girls jumped and Dice nearly bolted.  A hand pulled her back.  It was Zephyr.  "How'd you do that?" asked Dice, still shaken.

            "That is simple.  I watched you enter the kitchen.  I shifted into my wind-shape.  Then, I rematerialized behind you here."

            Rip looked furious.  "You cheat."

            "She didn't cheat," corrected Dice.  "She used our new link to track us down and then used her own abilities to catch us.  I believe you did the same thing when you tried to hide, didn't you?"

            Rip glowered at the other two.  "So what if I did?"

            Zephyr looked pleased with this information.  "What is your new ability?  Surely, you could not use your dissipation talent for concealment."

            "I found out that I can breathe underwater."

            Dice's eyes widened.  "You can _what_?"

            "Breathe underwater.  And talk too."

            "How interesting," said Zee.  "Perhaps my immortality is triggering new abilities.  We shall have to watch both of you carefully.  This could prove a valuable development."

            "Well, can we leave the kitchen now?"  Dice was starting to feel like an intruder.

            "Of course."  Zephyr led the way back to the doors.  Rip grumbled under her breath as she followed.

            Sage was waiting for them when they came out.  "So it works?"

            "Definitely."

            "Then we can start looking for the other elementals."

            "Yes.  But first, I think we should let Rip find her friend," Dice mentioned.

            Rip agreed.  As the four of them headed back towards the staircase to go upstairs, she explained about her discovery underwater.  Sage called to the other Ronins mentally, telling them that the hunt was over and they were going back to the suites.

            Ryo was waiting for them when they got there.  "Hey, what's all this about underwater stuff?" he asked.

            "I can breathe underwater," repeated Rip.

            Wildfire grinned.  "Well, that's gonna get Cye excited for sure.  I think he resents the fact that none of us are ever willing to fight him underwater.  He'd probably like someone to practice with."

            "Mmph."

            The whole group eventually gathered in one suite.  "Okay!  So, what's next on the agenda?" Danji started off the discussion.

            "Zee's tracking theory's worked out, that's for sure," said Kento.

            "And I think we're gonna let Rip find her friend before we do anything more."

            Rip nodded vigorously.  "I already have one small lead," she said and told them about her encounter with the children in the pool.

            "But you don't know where they went?"

            She sighed.  "No.  They got spooked and ran off, I guess."

            Mia frowned.  "Well, not to be rude but…we really need to find the rest of the elementals before our little distraction fails or…or things get really bad…"

            Everyone knew what she meant and the room became quiet.

            "So…you're saying that since finding Roary's not going so well anyway, we should probably move on to the next order of business and then try to find her later?" Rip tried not to look angry or disappointed, which she was plenty of.

            "Yeah…" Ryo smiled wryly at her.

            "Ah, hell…" began the surfer.  Then she sighed.  "I suppose saving the world comes before saving someone you can't quite locate…" Abruptly, her mood changed.  "Then let's get to it.  If I'm gonna be some sorta hero, might as well get it over with, right?"

            Ryo grinned and leaned toward Cye.  "She reminds me more and more of Kento all the time," he said.

            Cye groaned and dragged his fingers across his face.  "Oh, that's wonderful.  Just wonderful," he moaned.

            "Hey!" Kento scowled and swatted his friend's head.  "What's that supposed to mean?"

            "Then I suppose we should start looking, huh?" commented Dice, reminding them of what they were discussing.

            "Yes.  And soon," added Cye.  "I've got a really bad feeling.  And as much as I dislike the whole empathy thing sometimes, I don't wanna take the chance that this bad feeling is more than just my nerves jangling."

            "We've still got half the day to search in sunlight."  Ryo looked around at everyone.  "So whadda you say, Zee?  Ready to start our roles in Kento's sci-fi movie?"

            Zee nodded in affirmation, grinning with excitement, another mortal thing she enjoyed.  "But what is sci-fi?"

            Kento smiled broadly and leaned forward.

            "Oh, no, you don't!" said Sage.  He could see the light in the Chinese boy's eyes that forewarned he was going to do some mischief.  "Don't you start contaminating her with a bunch of lies.  We don't need her to be talking about certain…_things_ when someone mentions something entirely different!"

            While Zephyr looked confused, Kento protested, "Ah, no!  Sage, you got it all wrong!  I wouldn't do something like that—"

            "You're lying," said Cye, grinning.  Kento had tried this trick before, so it wasn't entirely due to his talent that the British teen knew.  Kento glared at him.

            "Keep your empathic nose outta my business!"

            "Keep your mischievous mouth shut!" ordered Sage.

            "You people are impossible!" groaned Hardrock and stood up, moving toward the door.

            "Hey, where are you going?" asked Dice, quickly rising to her feet.

            Kento turned around, managing a puzzled, yet teasing expression.  "I thought we were gonna go look for Sage's elemental sister.  Thought maybe she might be able to gimme some juicy gossip about him…Hey, Sage, just kidding!  Don't kill me!"  With the other Ronin close on his heels, he ran out of the suite.

            "What is sci-fi?" Zee asked again.

* * * * *

            Dais tossed another pebble at the tree.  There was a bird nest in there and he was trying to get as many pebbles into it as he could.  "Score," he said as the pebble landed in the nest.  "That's five for me, two for you, Cale."

            Cale growled and picked up another pebble.

            Behind them, Sekhmet and Rowen were arguing about something.  Kayura was napping under a tree.  It seemed like every time they were about to get somewhere, someone would be too worn out to move.  Carrying someone wasn't a big option because that someone was either hurt, sick, or too heavy to move very far.

            Rowen's legs were almost completely healed, but he was still vomiting rather often, leading Kayura to believe that it wasn't just his legs that were the problem.  Sekhmet had to stay flat all the time or his wound would cause him a lot of pain.  Dais was fine, except for some bizarre dizzy spells he was experiencing sporadically lately.  Cale hardly experienced any pain at all anymore, excepting an occasional pang.  Kayura kept wearing herself out healing Sekhmet and Rowen and was starting to get headaches.

            The arguing coming from the two invalids rose in volume abruptly, escalating to shouting.  Dais raised an eyebrow at Cale, whose dark expression didn't change.

            "Would you two _please_ keep it down?!"

            Cale's face was instantly full of concern at Kayura's complaint.  He turned around and barked, "Shut up, Sekhmet!"

            "This brat started it!" protested the green-haired Warlord, scowling at Rowen.

            "You wish, snake-eyes!"

            "You can shut up too, kid!" snapped Cale.

            Rowen shut his mouth but smirked at the angry man.  Kayura sighed, relieved that all the noise had stopped, and went back to sleep.  As Cale turned away, Rowen leaned over and whispered in Sekhmet's ear.  Dais, glancing over his shoulder, noticed this.  He also saw Sekhmet raise his eyes in surprise and then smother a guffaw.

            "Hey, Cale, something tells me that those two are talking about you.'

            Cale looked at him, still irritated.  "So?"

            Dais shrugged.  "Just thought you'd like to know."  He threw his pebble at the bird's nest.

            Sekhmet started laughing loudly.  He stopped though, stating, "Owww, that hurts…"  But he was grinning.

            Rowen also had a smug grin on his face.

            Cale glared back at the pair and then tossed his pebble again.  _Childish…_ he thought.

            _I'll say!_

            Cale jumped.

            Dais looked at him quizzically.  "You alright?"

            Cale instantly reinstated his gruff expression.  "What are you talking about?"

            Dais slumped his shoulders, exasperated.  "Never mind."  Why did everything have to be so weird?

            _You freak out so easily, Cale.  I'm Kayura, in case you hadn't figured that out._

            Cale continued with what he was doing as if nothing was happening, throwing a pebble at the bird's nest.  _And I suppose this is another Ancient's talent?_ he replied.

            Kayura gave the mental equivalent of a soft laugh and a sigh.  _No.  Dais and I discovered it the other day and Dais said he could do the same with Strata._

_            Well, this could prove useful._

_            Do you see everything in terms of useful or not useful?_

_            …Is that a rhetorical question?_

            Kayura laughed again.  _So you do have a sense of humor!_  Then she became serious.  _Cale, about what I did to you—_

_            You didn't do anything.  We've been over this already.  It was all an accident…although I think some anger-management training is in order for you._

_            Uh…well, then let's talk about something else.  Mainly about what you said._

_            What I said?_

_            About the elementals.  We know now that at least one other exists, so it may be possible that you weren't just dreaming of the one you spoke of._

            Cale recalled the vague memory he'd had of a woman or a girl, so white—like the snows he and his wolf friends enjoyed so much—and in the same pain as his own.  And she held a sorrow about her, of guilt or loneliness or something… He'd felt connected to her, and he'd felt the need to talk to her, to touch her, to be with her…  _I remember now,_ he told Kayura.

_            Well, anyway: if you're right and this elemental you spoke of is real, then the legend was wrong._

            Cale was surprised.  Kayura was admitting that one of her "precious" legends might be incorrect.  _Because it only spoke of elementals corresponding with the Ronin armors, you mean?_

_            Yes._

_            So…there could be elementals connected to our armors?_

_            Yes, possibly._

_            …Kayura?_

_            Hmm?_

_            Let's not talk about this beyond this discussion._

_            What?_

_            I think it's better kept secret.  From what Dais has told us, this Xyrelyc guy doesn't know about any elementals besides the Ronins'.  Dais might be wrong…but if he's not, then we could use this to our advantage._

_            Good point.  I agree._

_            Good…umm, so how do I turn this thing off?_

            Kayura laughed again, explained, and drifted back to sleep.  Tossing another pebble into the bird's nest and forwarding his score over Dais's, Cale allowed himself a small smile.  Dais noticed but pretended not to.

* * * * *

            Fey jogged behind the General Tolneth, a streak of deep violet flitting around the man so fast it seemed like a blur of light.  T'vika, bright green wings outstretched to maintain her balance, clung to a strand of Fey's pale lavender hair as she sat on the girl's shoulder.  Fey had thought to change into a pair of leather pants and a tunic before she left Shoquia's house with the General, but little more.

            Tolneth finally stopped at a door not far from Xyrelyc's war chamber.  He turned to face the Lord's daughter, unexpressive.  "My Lady, I should warn you.  The Lady Charmer is hardly alive anymore.  Your Lord father was hoping that we could help her, that perhaps you knew how to save her.  But by the time I came for you, she was only breathing by some miracle." At that last word, the man briefly seemed disconcerted, but only briefly.  "By now, it is very likely that she is no longer under the grace of that so-called miracle."

            "I know all of this; I've seen it before," said Fey, aggravated.  "Just let me in!"

            "Yes, man, let us in!"  With that, the violet blur solidified into an angry K'sinn, who promptly shoved Tolneth aside with strength improbable for such a small body.  She tugged furiously at the door, calling T'vika to help her.  Fey joined the Shadows and they had the door open before Tolneth could move to unlock it.  The General stepped in behind them, closing and locking the door behind them.

            Fey knelt at the bedside.  It was a big beautiful bed and she wondered why in all the realms her father would have such a thing in his fortress.  Shoquia—her mother, sister, friend—lay like a quivering corpse beneath the red velvety blanket and silken sheets.  _How could this happen?_ she wondered, aghast.

            "Shoq, can you hear me?"

            K'sinn pushed T'vika back to their half-kin's shoulder, where the flustered green faerie perched and began to speak soothing words to the girl.  K'sinn herself flitted to hover above Shoquia's face.  "Malnutrition," she diagnosed.  Then she flew back to Tolneth.  "Leave us," she said.  "Let us be with her now."

            Tolneth stood there for a moment, face blank.  A moment later, he left the room silently.  K'sinn waited till she heard the lock click.

            She flitted back to Fey, noticed the tears spilling down the halfling's dark-skinned face, the distraught and uncertain aura around T'vika, and she went to settle herself beside Shoquia's ear.  She made herself a nest amidst the sweat-drenched teal hair spilling across the pillows.  It seemed that the shuddering, shallow breath the young woman was now drawing would be her last.  She leaned to the charmer's ear.

            "Shoquia, you can come out now."

            Shoquia's breathing halted.

            Fey blinked, then began to sob.  She buried her face in the velvet folds of the bed and clenched the hem of the blankets.

            A gentle hand brushed her bangs back.

            Fey held her breath.

            "Would you weep for me before I'd even gone, my little Shadow?" The words came in one whispery breath.

            Fey lunged upward and pulled her mother-friend into her arms.  "Shoq?" she cried.

            "Mm?"  The murmur was hardly audible.

            "Don't die.  Please."

            No response came for a few moments.  "I won't.  I can't…Fey, sweetheart, we have…to leave."

            "What?!"

            K'sinn spoke up now.  "Shoquia and I have discussed it in the past.  I gave her energy enough to cast an illusion over herself for a few moments, giving the appearance that she was closer to death than she truly was, for it gives the General the impression that we are saying our farewells.  If we are to do this, we must do it quickly."

            T'vika and Fey looked utterly lost.  "I don't understand.  What did you two discuss?"

            "K'sinn…said…we should plan for everything.  We—"

            K'sinn interrupted, seeing that Shoquia was wasting breath and energy.  "In the event that we discovered we were mislead in our beliefs about the elementals, or anything involving Xyrelyc's conquests, the plan was to escape.  We must do that now."

            "But Father—"

            "Fey…" Shoquia looked up with dimmed teal eyes at the younger girl.  "He used me to kill unjustly.  He is evil.  When he finds out that I've turned, he'll have me executed.  The MaSho…" She drifted into unconsciousness.

            K'sinn took charge.  "Child, we must leave now.  Here's what we will do…"  She began to explain.

* * * * *

            Zee yawned again.  "Sorry," she said.

            Sage smiled.  Zephyr was leaning against him as they walked down the street.  Kento and Rip were across the street in a café, getting something to—hopefully—wake her up a little.  Rip wasn't happy about doing anything nice for the other elemental but Kento had offered to pay for the wake-up drinks and to get Rip something too.

            Cye, Ryo, Dice, and Mia were shopping downtown.  Danji walked a few paces behind Sage and Zee, talking on a cell phone with Mia.  Just then, Rip came running back across the street, an ice cream in hand.  She stopped beside Danji and took over the phone, asking to talk to Cye or Ryo.  Kento followed at a more cautious pace.  He had a pair of to-go cappuccinos in his hands, steam drifting out of the openings in the lids.

            "One mint chocolate cappuccino for Zee and I, uh, got one extra, just in case."  Kento handed Zephyr one of the cups.  As she sipped cautiously at it, he looked at Sage with raised eyebrows.

            Sage grinned and nodded.  "She says that she thinks we're only a mile or so away."

            "Really?"

            "Yes," said Zee.  "I just wish it didn't make me so sleepy."

            "Hey, you used a contraction!" exclaimed Kento.

            "Yes, and you just used a big word, Kento.  Aren't we _so_ proud, Sage?"

            Sage just laughed and tightened his arm around Zee's waist.  "You're beginning to sound like one of us, Zee."

            The ex-immortal looked up at him.  "I thought I already was."

            "Are you talking like that deliberately?"

            "Well, yes…kind of.  It started that way, but now I think it happens somewhat automatically."

            "Great.  Now maybe we can approach the school subject…"

            Kento scowled.  The pair had gone off into their own little world again.  He dropped back to walk with Rip and Danji.  Rip was arguing over the phone with someone, most likely Ryo, about who should pick up White Blaze.  The tiger was at a secluded beach, told not to let anyone see him.

            Danji looked annoyed.  Kento found this amusing for a few milliseconds but then he was back to being bored.

            "Ummm…that way."  Zee and Sage turned into an alley.

            A few minutes later, the group found themselves in a very different environment.  The quaint little shops had disappeared, replaced by rundown houses and an occasional obscure establishment, the streets were hardly clean.  Zee paused beside a relatively well kempt building.  Sage looked surprised.  "A bar?"

            "Is that what it is?  Hm.  Well, we have a little further to go yet."

            She led them down more alleys and side streets.  The buildings began to grow scarce.  Finally, they arrived at an old lot.  It was overgrown with weeds, plants, trees and the like.  Zee began to make her way through the shrubbery, muttering in complaint about the way pointy plants kept poking her.  Sage hurried to follow her.  "Hey, wait up!"

            Kento grabbed Rip's arm and dragged her after them, the Hawaiian just trotting along as she continued her phone argument.  Danji followed leisurely.

            It took at least two minutes to get through the overgrowth.  Sage and Zee waited for them outside the shack.  Kento blinked.  "Who would wanna live here?" he commented.

            "The light elemental," supplied Zee.

            Sage took a deep breath.  "Well, are we going in?"

            Rip was ignoring all of them, almost shouting into the phone at Ryo now.  Danji made a grab for the phone, but she absently swatted his hands away.  Kento frowned at them both, sighed, and nodded to Sage.  He moved to open the door, but Zee put a hand to his arm.  "Wait," she said.  "I think Sage should go in alone first."

            "…huh?" both boys asked.

            She smiled.  "Rowen and I met alone.  It made our bond stronger, I believe.  Cye and Rip met alone and they have a stronger link, too.  But you and Dice were surrounded by all of us and you don't seem to be as deeply connected.  Perhaps, if Sage and this elemental meet privately, it might help to strengthen their bond." Her smile turned sheepish then.  "Or I may be wrong.  I just wanted to test a theory."

            Kento laughed.  "She really is Rowen's sister, isn't she?"

            Zephyr grinned and shrugged.

            Sage took another deep breath.  "Okay.  I'm going in!" he said jokingly, and stepped up to the door, raised his hand to knock—

            "NO!  I DON'T WANNA GO GET HIM RIGHT NOW!!!  I DON'T CARE IF I _AM_ CLOSER TO THE BEACH!  _YOU_ GO GET YOUR BLASTED FURBALL!!!"

            Kento finally managed to slap a hand over Rip's mouth, but it was too late.  Behind them, the door creaked open.

            Sage blinked.  The face peering out at them through the crack was young, probably about three years old, thin and dirty.  The little girl looked at him with her thumb in her mouth, blinking huge hazel eyes at him even as he blinked himself.  Then the door opened wider and a boy taller than the girl stepped in front of her.  His hair was the same dirty blond as the child's, his eyes the same, but his skin was more tanned and he had to be at least twelve years old.  His expression was fierce and he said firmly, "Who are you and what do ya want?"

            "Gabe!" cried Rip.  She dropped the phone and lunged up to the door.  "You live here?  You live here!  Roar's inside, isn't she?  Lemme see her!"

            The boy looked so surprised that Sage almost laughed.  Then, Zephyr took his arm and gently, firmly pushed open the door, saying "excuse me" to Gabe as she did.  She pulled Sage in with her, Rip shoving past quickly.  Danji retrieved the phone, asked for Mia, explained the situation, hung up, and followed.  Kento glanced around before he entered the shack, as if fearing that husk soldiers would suddenly start appearing.  Gabe, disconcerted and still surprised, closed the door behind them.

            The shack was now very crowded.  It seemed that there were only two rooms to the dirt-floored building; the one they'd entered had a small three-legged table in the middle piled with soiled books.  The other room was slightly larger, but only by a margin.  Rip forged ahead into this room, Gabe following closely.  Zee led Sage along, determined that he meet his soul-sister.  Kento and Danji decided to wait in the first room, realizing how terribly packed the second was becoming.

            There were two single beds in the room, shoved up against the east and west walls.  In the middle of the room was a white plastic baby crib, one of its legs replaced by a column of bricks for support.  Rip and Gabe came to a halt beside the west bed, Rip dropping to her knees.  Besides Gabe, three other children stood beside the bed, a girl hardly younger than Gabe holding a toddler in her arms.  Sage jerked to a stop.

_…the faint silhouettes of five figures gathered around a bed and a sixth lay beneath the raggedy sheet and blanket that furnished the worn mattress…_

"Sage?" whispered a melodic voice in his ear.  "Are you alright?"

"Zee," he breathed, turning to his girlfriend.  "Remember Ro's dream?"

She blinked and gasped.  "Oh my!"

"Roar, babe, you hear me?"  Rip's voice sounded a little choked.  "Hey, it's me.  It's the Ripper."

The figure beneath the bedclothes murmured something incoherent, coughing violently.

Sage stepped up to the bed now.  He found himself squeezed between the three-year-old who'd first opened the door and another young boy, who he estimated to be six or seven years of age.  Looking down at the girl in the bed, his heart felt like an anaconda must have wrapped its massive coils around him and begun to constrict.  She was gaunt and drenched in sweat, which he knew somehow would be very cold, and she tossed, writhed in the bed covers, coughing, wheezing, crying out in a voice of hallucination.  It didn't take a doctor, or even a healer, to know this girl was dying.

He almost wept then and there.  But a small, delicate hand gripped his shoulder, light as wind, and he was reminded of how Rowen hated them to "get all sappy" when he'd been sick.  Now, with these young children gathered round this girl, who obviously meant a great deal to them, he really shouldn't cry.  _Be strong_, he heard Zee tele-whisper.

_I'm trying_, he replied.  He placed a hand across the girl's brow and nearly flinched.  It was like Zee's leg burns all over again, just not as grotesque.  To his surprise, the teenager fell still beneath his hand and seemed to breathe easier.  He pulled his hand away.  She cried out.  He put it back and she quieted again.

Rip looked to be mad as hell.  "You're supposed to be a healer, aren't you?  So heal Roar!"  She noticed his hesitation and quickly took a grasp on both of her ailing friend's hands.  "Look, I'll help.  You heal some; I'll dissolve her pain and stuff some.  Deal?"  She didn't wait for an answer, but closed her eyes and began.

Sage glanced at Zee, who was scowling at the way Rip had rushed into this.  But she nodded at him with a confident smile, giving him confidence himself.  He closed his eyes…

An hour later, Kento and Danji helped a stumbling Rip out of the shack and a little ways away.  She was choking, her eyes closed tight, just as Mia had found her in the kitchen the other day.  When they were far enough from the shack, Kento pressed the short girl's face into his chest and said, "You can scream now."

Which she did.  Thankfully, the glass-shattering banshee-like shriek was muffled by Hardrock's shirt and body this time, so it wasn't nearly as bad.  Finally, she was done and, with the 'end-of-the-world' look in her eyes, she let the two young men lead her back to the shack, obviously exhausted.  Inside, Kento sat on the floor in a corner of the first room and gathered Rip into his arms, where she promptly fell asleep.  Danji sat at the table, absently reading one of the half-ruined books.  Having been asked to leave the bedroom, the seven-year-old boy, with the youngest on his hip, sat down with Kento and Rip, settling his baby brother in his lap.  The youngest girl came to stand beside Danji.  Standing on tiptoe to see the book in his lap, she pointed at a word in the novel and said proudly, "Dawwg," which earned smiles from all waking persons in the room, excepting the baby.

In the bedroom, Sage sat on the floor with Zee between him and the bed of the ill girl.  He'd worn himself out enough, in her opinion, and she wouldn't allow him to heal his soul-sister a smidgeon more.  Tawny and Gabe sat on the bed, holding their older sister up between them.  The teen was still unconscious, her eyes moving rapidly beneath the closed lids, and still looked rather ill, but better nonetheless.  Zephyr finally left Sage alone long enough to come to Rip's friend and place a wind-light hand against the girl's brow.  She thought of a cool breeze, soft and soothing, and directed the feeling to the skin of the girl beneath her hand.  Through her sleep, the patient sighed in relief.

Sage grunted and got to his feet, moving to return to his healing task.  Zee immediately shoved him back with all her strength.  He stumbled back quite a bit.  "That," she said, "is why you will not heal this young woman any more.  You can hardly stand up, let alone perform supernatural healing.  Understood?"

"Zee, I—"

His girlfriend's expression became angry.  "No!" she said, right before she started speaking in Greek.

"Hey, if you're going to be mad at me, at least do it in a language I can understand!"

She halted and sighed.  "Of course, now get out of this room right now.  But would you please ask Danji to come in?"  She reached out and steadied the Warrior and turned him toward the door.

Sage shook his head in amusement as he walked out.  Boy, when it came to girls, he sure knew how to pick 'em.  He tapped Danji's shoulder.  The dark-haired man looked up at him quizzically.  "Your turn."

Danji grinned and jumped to his feet, scooping up the little girl who'd been beside him as he went.  The three-year-old giggled, holding the book in her hands.  She pointed to a word in the book, saying, "What word?"

"Sister," said the doctor, glancing at the text.

"Like Roary!" the child chirped.

"Yes, like your sister."  He hoisted her to his shoulders and felt the thump of the book on his head.  "Now, be quiet, kiddo.  Roary's still sleeping."

"Okay!"

Zee set Danji to using his minimal healing powers on Roary and then hurried to go check on Rip.  The dark-skinned girl was still fast asleep in Kento's arms. Kento grinned up at Zephyr.  "I think she might have overdone it a bit this time."

"I agree.  Well, hopefully she'll learn from this.  She must understand that rushing into things will not help to accomplish anything if it debilitates her."

"Oh, jeez.  You _are_ Rowen's sister."

Zee just smiled and turned to seat herself in the seat Danji had vacated. She closed her eyes and concentrated. She knew Rowen was nearby; she could feel it in her bones… Strange to think, she _had_ bones now… Where was he?

"Zephyr!"

She didn't even think about it, but she shifted to wind, whipped toward the caller, and rematerialized at their side. "What is it?"

"Shh," reproached Danji. "Listen to her."

On the bed, Roary was softly singing, though she still seemed unconscious. Zee had to lean close to better hear the girl and when she did, Roary's voice was broken by her still-struggling breath. "Don't worry little babies…don't…worry at all…I'll never let harm come to you…and if…I cannot be with…you…only know…all you need is hope…look to the morning…there is light…"

The room fell back into silence.

Zephyr finally sighed and smiled. She met the eyes of everyone in the room. "She's going to be fine. I believe she'll be up and about by morning."

The girl who'd been following Danji around beamed. "Good!" Then she tugged on Danji's hand. "You got'ny candy?"


End file.
